I Love You, I Know
by LyricalKris
Summary: Bella's boyfriend of nine years dumped her at the Happiest Place on Earth wearing one half of a couple's themed t-shirt. Somehow, on one of the worst days of her life, she wound up sitting next to a man wearing the other half of her shirt, also wandering Disneyland alone and partnerless. It was a sign. Of what, neither of them knew.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ahem. Here we go again!**

 **Dedication: This fic is dedicated to Ausha. As you know, I don't have much of a belief system, but if anything were to make sense to me, reincarnation makes sense (I swear this has a point). It explains a lot of things, not the least of which is why sometimes you meet a person, a total stranger, and instantly feel like you've known them forever.**

 **Love you, Ausha. You're my person.**

 **Ausha asked for: E/B run into each other in Disneyland, each wearing one half of the Leia/Han Solo I Love You/I Know shirts without the people they bought them with. They both live in San Diego.**

* * *

"What can I get you today?"

"A fucking time machine." Bella leaned one arm on the counter, scrubbing a hand over her eyes. "I'm going to go back in time and kick Walt Disney's ass."

Silence descended as the barista stared blankly at Bella, blinking slowly. "He put Disneyland in Orange County. Like, who goes to the middle of an orange grove and decides to build a theme park? And if he was going to do it, I'm sure he could have found a grove here in San Diego at the time. Who wouldn't want to put the happiest place on Earth right next to the ocean? Wouldn't that have made more sense?"

"Um. Sure?" The barista looked a little wide-eyed, as though she thought Bella might possibly be out of her mind.

Bella sighed. "I'll have a venti coffee with two pumps hazelnut."

The barista flashed a relieved, brilliant smile. "That's two thirty-eight please."

A minute later, Bella stood at the counter, adjusting the cream and sugar level of her sweet nectar of the gods. As she stirred in just one more sugar, her skin began to crawl and an eerie, claustrophobic sense came over her. She whirled and stepped to the side, away from the creeper who'd decided he could get into her personal space.

Said creeper leered. "Didn't mean to startle you. Just, you said you love me, so I figured I'd better come say hello."

Bella narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

The creeper pointed to her shirt, which did, indeed, proclaim "I love you."

"Oh, man." Bella had to struggle not to roll her eyes. "Buddy, it's way too early for this crap." She pointed to the figure on her shirt, a silhouette of Princess Leia. "Don't tell me you're one of the three people on the planet who hasn't seen Star Wars? Leia says 'I love you,' Han says, 'I know.'"

"I'm just saying, I can be your Han Solo, baby."

 _Christ_. "You think I'd buy a shirt like this without having someone for the other half? My boyfriend has the Han shirt. My boyfriend whom I'm about to go meet at Disneyland. So, if you'll excuse me." With that, Bella turned and headed out of the coffee shop.

About two hours later, she was in Anaheim, turning into the parking structure. She bounced a little in her seat, humming to the music. Disneyland, her favorite place on the planet, and her favorite person. Today was going to be a good day; she could feel it.

Once she was passed security and headed to the trams, Bella fired off a quick text to her boyfriend.

 _Babe, the suckers let me past security. You at the usual spot? ;)_

As she boarded the tram, her phone chimed.

 **Yeah, I'm here.**

Bella frowned at the three words. Weird. Jasper wasn't one for quick, impersonal texts. That and, at Disneyland, he was more playful than usual. That was why she'd started bringing him here. He always had the weight of the world on his shoulders everywhere else.

Since she was going to be right in front of him in another five minutes, Bella resisted the urge to fire off another text asking him what was wrong. She also had to stop herself from bouncing her leg. A weird, twisty feeling had begun to curl right in her gut.

Finally, she was able to get off the tram. Moving as quickly as she could around the hoard of people also about to get their Disney adventure on, she speed-walked to the main entrance plaza. She stopped short when she caught her first glimpse of Jasper.

She'd been eighteen when she met him. He was in a Philosophy class she took as part of her general education courses. From that day, nine years ago, he'd always, _always,_ had long, scraggly hair. That first day, it was loose and flowing. She'd seen it in a ponytail, a bun, spiked up in an outrageous mohawk, and held back with a bandana. But never like this.

His beautiful hair was shorn into a crisp, clean, business-like cut. It was so damn short, it was almost military-length.

He also looked tired. Tired and defeated. He sat on the edge of a huge planter, his shoulders slumped, and his bowed head in his hands.

Yeah. The knot in her stomach got bigger.

She slowed down to a crawl. She had the worst feeling that she wanted to prolong this moment as long as possible.

But Jasper looked up, and her time ran out. He stood, his eyes drawn and sad. Bella had to swallow down a lump in her throat. "What's going on?"

He took her hands, pulling her close enough that he could rest his forehead against hers. He let out a shaky sigh. "Yeah. We have to talk."

 _Shit_.

"Let's sit down." He lead her to the planter and played with her fingers while he tried to find the right words.

"Kinda going out of my mind here, Jazz," Bella said.

"I know." He raised his head, looking her in the eyes. "I need you to listen to everything in going to say, okay, because I know how it's going to sound."

"Oh, okay. Dude, you know you're making this so much worse."

He smiled, ducking his head. "Yeah." He took a deep breath. "My mom got into a really experimental treatment program."

Bella blinked. That was incongruously good news. Jasper had moved from San Diego to Orange County to help take care of his sick mother four years ago. "That...I mean, that's a good thing. Right?"

"Maybe. Obviously, we want it to be." Another deep breath. "But the doctors are in Texas."

Bella's heart skipped a beat. "Oh." Jasper was from Texas. In fact, it was his parents who'd followed him a few years after he fled Texas for California.

"That's not all," Jasper said.

"Oh?"

"God, after everything, I really don't know how to say this." Another huff. "No matter what happens with my mom, I'm going to be in Texas for awhile. A long while. I'm going…" Deep, fortifying breath. "I'm going to take over the business."

Bella gaped.

Jasper had been twenty when they met. He was a Freshman like her, but it had taken him a few years to get on his feet after his parents cut him off for wanting to major in music.

When his parents moved to California in part to reconcile with Jasper, the business had remained a point of contention. Their relationship had improved much since his mother had gotten so sick. But he'd been firm for five years. He didn't want to be in an office. He didn't want to wear a tie. He didn't want to cut his hair like his parents thought he should.

"I know it's not what we planned," Jasper started.

"Not what we planned?" Bella hated the way her voice ticked up. "Jasper, literally all our plans have been about avoiding an office at all costs."

He grimaced. "I know. It's hard to explain. Everything in Texas is such a mess. I didn't realize how bad things had gotten."

Bella crossed her arms over her chest, staring at him. "Babe, you know I'm not unsympathetic to this whole thing with your family's business. But you can't let it dictate your life. You know that."

"That's the thing. I know how it sounds. I've spent the last twelve years fighting this, but…" He tried to take her hands, but she yanked them away. "I need to do this. I need to."

His eyes pleaded with her. Whatever the hell was going on here, as crazy as it all sounded, Bella knew her boyfriend. She knew the look on his face. This was what he wanted. It felt right to him.

Bella stood up and started to pace, running a hand through her hair. "Okay. I can accept that you feel that way. I mean...whatever. I don't get it, but if this is something you need to do, fine. But Jazz, you've got this whole thing planned out, and you're _telling_ me how it's going to be. This is something we should have talked out together."

"I had the conversation in my head. It's not like I didn't know how it would go."

Bella arched her eyebrows. "Are you kidding me? That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works."

He made an exasperated noise. She could see he regretted the words, but he was never one to get derailed when he had a point to make. "Look, let me get through the hardest part of this."

A wave of nausea rolled through her. "We haven't hit the hard part yet?"

"God." He ran a hand over his face. "Baby, come here. Please."

"Don't baby me right now, Jasper." Bella held her ground.

He went to her. He took her hands. She yanked them away, but when he took them again, she let him. "Bella, you know I love you, okay. Please understand that this is not about that."

Bella bit the inside of her lip hard, trying to bite back the sting in her eyes. She didn't look at him. She was already reeling, and she could sense it was about to get worse.

Jasper squeezed her fingers. "You know you have to stay here. I know that. You have a year and a half left of grad school, and you know you want to get into that doctoral program here. You belong here.

"I think we have to be realistic. I'm going to be so swamped in Texas between the business and my mom. Baby…" His voice cracked, and he took a deep breath, steadying himself. "I think we need to call it. I think that's only fair."

And there it was. Bella's throat closed and her stomach dropped down to her toes. She yanked her hands violently out of his and turned around. She pressed her knuckles hard to her mouth.

"Baby—"

"Don't fucking call me that!" Bella whirled on Jasper, furious tears streaking down her face. She growled in frustration, glancing around at the people staring in her direction. It took all her willpower to lower her voice. "I can't fucking believe you. I drove two hours, to the fricken Happiest Place on Earth for you to pull this crap? We've been together for nine years, and you're calling it overnight? You were fine when we talked last night."

"Ba—" Jasper closed his eyes and tried again. "We got the news yesterday morning. We have a flight tomorrow morning. I had to think everything through before I talked to you."

"Because it's not like it's _our_ life. Our life that we planned together. You can decide to end it on your own."

He sat down, running a hand over his eyes. "Bella," he said so softly her heart would have broken if it wasn't already splitting straight down the middle. "It's just… We talk about this all the time. Love isn't the problem. Sometimes people are in different places. It's timing. It's just happened to us now instead of the beginning of our relationship. Come on. It's been so hard being 90 miles apart. Do you think we would have survived a bigger separation?"

"You don't even think it's worth trying? Jesus Christ. Who are you right now?"

"I told you. I thought about it a lot."

"Since yesterday."

He paused, and her eyes went wide. "Holy hell." Again, her eyes stung, but these weren't angry tears. She wrapped her arms around herself. "How long have you been feeling this way? Because, you know, using your sick mother and the family business as an excuse for your own bullshit is a dick move."

The hurt that flashed across his face didn't feel good, but she didn't apologize. Despite the growing ache in her chest, she was still mostly angry.

"You know me better than that," he said quietly.

"I thought I knew you."

"It's not that I want to not be with you. This isn't about freedom or anything like that. I'm not unhappy with you. But it's not the first time I've thought about the fact we were so young when we got together."

Bella balked. "Are you about to pull some bullshit about how we should see other people? Because we can't possibly choose each other when we don't know what we're missing?"

He huffed, his brows drawn together. "Crap. This is what I meant about this coming out all wrong. That's not what I'm saying. It's...maybe it can be an upside, I guess. I don't know. I'm trying to find an upside to this, but regardless, it's not the main thing. It's not the reason why any of this is happening.

"The main thing is, I didn't see how we could be an us about this. Not when we want such different things. _Our_ plan takes our lives in a whole different direction than the one I _need_ to be on. And yeah, we could have discussed it. But what then? You were never going to come to Texas, and I wouldn't have wanted you to. Not because I don't want _you_ , but because I want the things we planned for you. You've worked so hard to get where you are. I wouldn't want you to let go of that."

"So, not only are you making that choice for me, but you're saying all the things we planned for you, the things I want to see you do and the progress you've made, don't matter anymore."

Again, he was infuriatingly softspoken. "What I want has changed. Texas is what I want, at least for that portion of my life."

"And you want the freedom to see other people."

"No. I—" He shook his head. "Bella, I'm trying to be honest here. I'm trying not to waste your time, or mine for that matter, just because I'm too selfish to let you go. I don't know what's going to happen at the end of the road I'm on right now. It's a road full of things you don't want for you; things you don't want for me; things you definitely don't want for us. So if I drag you down that damn road, chances are you're going to hate me when we get to the other end, wherever that is.

"But if I let you go, there's a chance we can find each other again when we're both on the same page. If we're ever going to have a chance, I can't let it get to the point where you hate me."

"Yeah? Well, guess what? You already blew that chance out of the water." Bella grabbed her bag from where it sat near their feet and stalked off.

"Bella—"

"Don't fucking touch me," she hissed under her breath, pulling away before he could grab her. She glared at him through eyes that blurred with tears and spoke through clenched teeth. "Don't follow me into the park. Have enough decency to at least not ruin that for me."

She didn't stop to listen to any response. She turned on her heel and stalked away.

He didn't follow.

* * *

 **A/N: Quick note, because I know my WiP list is getting ridiculous. Three of my fics are close to finishing, and I meant to finish them in June, but, ya know, life. LOL. So I'll post the second chap to this asap (gotta meet Edward!), and then it might be a (hopefully short) stretch until ch 3.**

 **Thanks, everyone.**

 **So. What do you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Let's meet Edward, my loves.**

* * *

Edward was a special kind of masochist. He'd come to Disneyland in an effort to show Kate she couldn't kill one of his favorite places. And that might have been a healthy goal if he hadn't come today of all days. If he hadn't worn this shirt, and if he wasn't doing exactly what he would have done if Kate was there beside him like she should have been.

It was muscle memory, pure and simple. Most passholders had a route, a way to do the park "right." They knew which rides had a shorter wait time at whatever point of the day, and had their FastPasses timed down to an art.

For Kate and Edward, their first stop was always Radiator Springs Racers, a ride from the movie Cars where you raced a car full of other guests at the end. It was wisest to get a FastPass for that ride first thing because they often ran out. Then, they got in the regular line, permitted it wasn't too long, to go on the ride right away.

Edward got his lone FastPass, and then his feet took him to the entrance of the main line. There, he stopped, which turned out to be a mistake as someone walking behind him barreled into him.

"Sorry," he said at the same time the woman did. He didn't look up in time to see her face before she'd continued on, joining the left hand line like a woman on a mission.

Edward laughed at himself. "Single rider," he muttered under his breath. That was his line now, he figured.

With a resigned sigh, Edward followed the determined woman. His mother was always telling him to look on the bright side of things. There were positives in any situation, no matter how hard. The single rider line was a positive. It reduced the wait for some Disney rides to minutes in many cases, as Disney ride operators tried to fill in the single spaces left by people traveling in odd numbered groups.

Of course, he could have gone to Disneyland on his own any time and ridden single rider. That didn't take having to break up with someone.

Whatever.

By that time, Edward had caught up with the woman who'd brushed past him. He looked beyond her at first, guessing that the line was maybe ten or fifteen minutes long. Not bad. It was something, and something was more than nothing, or at least that was what he kept telling himself. He didn't believe it yet, but eh.

A snicker drew his attention, and he looked down to see the woman, a brunette, was looking at him. Not his face, but his shirt. But when he shifted, she raised her eyes to his. A shiver went down his spine.

She was pretty. On instinct, he cut his eyes to where Kate usually was, standing beside him, to see if she'd caught him looking. Not that he ever planned on doing anything, but he couldn't help the fact he had eyes. Kate could get so ridiculously jealous.

When he remembered, in the next second, that Kate wasn't there, he frowned, that heavy ache at his chest twisting sharply. Damn muscle memory. He hated that he was still used to her being there.

The stranger thought he was frowning at her. "Sorry," she said. "I was just amusing myself." She nodded at his shirt. "Usually those come in a pair, but you know what? It works for the Han Solo shirt. Makes you seem confident. What's the answer to any question? 'I know.'"

In spite of himself, the corner of Edward's mouth twitched up in amusement. "Kind of makes me sound like an arrogant ba— er, arrogant person, doesn't it? 'The weather's nice today.' 'I know.' 'Sir, that FastPass isn't valid for another hour.' 'I know.' 'Dang, you look good in that shirt.'" He shrugged. "I know."

She snickered. "You're right. It's the shirt who'sobnoxious."

He pointed at the shirt, and she smiled.

And that was when he noticed her eyes again. Particularly that they looked a little red-rimmed, as though she'd been crying recently. "Hey, are you okay?"

The stranger snapped her head forward and laughed. It was an uncomfortable sound. "Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" But rather than let him answer, she continued on, not looking at him. "So, where's Princess Leia? Does she get sick on this ride, or is she waiting with the kiddos?"

"Ah." The lump in Edward's throat made it difficult to speak. He rubbed his hand over the back of his hair, hating the almost unbearable squeeze on his heart.

Heartbreak, for Edward, wasn't agony. He didn't want to die or anything dramatic like that, but it ached. A lot. And it sucked.

"Something like that," he answered the stranger, his tone strangled to his own ears.

The stranger looked over her shoulder, peering at him. But the line had been moving even more steadily than Edward had predicted, and they were at the front.

"Single rider," one of the attendants called out.

The stranger flinched and sighed, looking forward. "Guess they're playing my song." She gave a little wave as she moved forward onto the ride.

It was only as she was walking away that Edward realized with a start that she was wearing his shirt. Well, the Princess Leia counterpart, anyway. Now he was curious. Where was her Han Solo?

 _He gets sick on this ride, or he's hanging out with the kids._

But she'd been crying. Maybe Han Solo had upset her. He'd better be waiting at the end of the ride to make it better. That was what he would have done. He'd have been waiting for Kate if he'd done something stupid enough to make her go storming off alone at Disneyland.

Edward was drawn out of his musing by a frustrated cry. The stranger had been placed next to what had to be a sibling pair—two teenage girls who looked way too similar to be girlfriends. The one in the "driver's" seat hopped up, startling the ride operators. She shook her head hard.

"I can't do it. I can't. You go. Go ahead without me."

"Are you sure?" the girl still in the car said. "I should—"

"No. We waited. You go." The girl looked at everyone. "I'm sorry. Sorry."

The ride operator rubbed the back of his neck as the girl hurried off. He turned on his faux-bright smile and looked to the stranger and the remaining teenage girl. "Can you guys scoot over?" He motioned with his hand, waving at Edward. "Single rider."

Edward's eyebrows arched. The stranger looked over her shoulder, looking as bemused as she scooted to the middle seat.

"Sorry," the second teenage girl said, leaning over to look at both of them. "She's got like… trauma. There was an accident. She's fine, right? But she gets scared."

"Oh," the stranger said. "That's kind of horrible."

"We'll get her there," the girl said as their car pulled forward.

Edward and the stranger exchanged a glance, each smiling. It was a sweet sentiment.

Strange. As he'd suspected, getting on this ride without Kate for the first time—the ride was still new in Disney terms—brought back a ton of memories. His heart twisted again, remembering their first time, and all the times after. They had fun doing all the voices, making up what the movie Cars had been about since neither of them had ever seen it.

What was strange was that, above the clench in his chest that made it difficult to breathe, he was also curious about the stranger next to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her bite her bottom lip and heard her sharp intake of breath. She breathed out, and put on a pair of sunglasses.

The teenage girl snickered. "You look like you're on a real road trip."

The stranger waved a hand out at the fake grandeur as they passed a tall waterfall tumbling off the red cliffs. "How is this not the best roadtrip ever?"

Edward couldn't help but snort. "I mean, you have a point," he said as they went into the indoor part of the ride. "We're about to be chased by a giant tractor and a tow truck is going to jump over the moon."

"You know, I just figured out that character's name is Tow Mater," the stranger said with a genuine smile. "Like a week ago, it occurred to me. Tow Mater. That's funny." She shrugged. "I should get around to seeing the movie."

"You've never seen the movie either, huh?" Edward said, smiling back.

She pointed out the side of the car. "That tow truck is talking. And his name is Tow Mater."

"Yeah, seemed kind of dumb. Never had an inkling."

"But I like Carsland. The rides are great."

"I like the look of it," Edward said.

"I like that they serve popcorn and mini churros in a traffic cone."

They both snickered and then gasped as the race portion of the ride started. They lurched forward, and the stranger let out a whoop. "Drive, drive," she said to the teenager.

"Come on. We can win this!" Edward cried, his cheers joining with the rest of the people in their car as well as the one they were racing.

"Whoooo-oh-oa," the stranger yelled as they went over the up and down bumps. She raised her hands. His were already in the air.

"I'm glad you guys got to sit together," the teenager said when they were waiting to pull up to the entrance of the ride where they could get out.

"Oh, we—" Edward started at the same time the stranger said, "We're not, um…"

"Oh. Sorry," the teenager said. She looked confused as she looked between the two of them. Their shirts, Edward realized belatedly.

When they got out, the stranger didn't bolt away. They both meandered at about the same pace and came to a stop in front of the wall of pictures. Radiator Springs Racers was one of the rides that snapped a picture of everyone at the point of highest action. The teenager had gotten there before them and was just turning away. She gave them a cool look, rolled her eyes and headed off without another word.

Edward peered at the picture and felt an old guilt, as though he'd done something wrong. But that was ridiculous. He didn't even know this woman's name.

Still, the picture made him smile, if nothing else, for the novelty of it all. She was a perfect stranger, and yet of course it looked like they were together. In the picture, both of their arms were thrown up, their faces rapt with huge smiles, mouths open in a yell. Their heads were tilted, his toward her and hers toward him, though he was sure that was nothing but a coincidence. Then, of course, there was a matter of the shirts. They were even in the right order—her I Love You next to his I Know.

Again, it was muscle memory to take his phone out and fire up the Disney app. As an annual passholder at his level, he got these kinds of photographs for free, stored to his profile as long as he put in the code displayed at the top. He glanced at the stranger, hoping she wouldn't think it was creepy, and found she was doing the same thing.

They smiled at each other. "Are you sure Princess Leia won't mind?" she asked lightly.

Edward's smile fell and he ducked his head. Then, he laughed, the sound coming out bitter. "Princess Leia has made it very clear she gives no fucks" —he glanced around, but luckily no little ones had been racing by at that moment— "about me. Besides, she doesn't have any room to complain."

"Oh."

"Sorry," Edward said with a grimace. "I didn't mean to go all mental breakdown on you."

She snorted. "It sounds like you have a reason to be angry." She paused a beat. "So, you're not here with anyone?"

"Single rider all the way around." The bitterness crept into his tone again.

"Have you had breakfast?"

He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the stranger, an eyebrow raised. "What about Han Solo?"

"Fuck Han Solo." She sounded venomous.

He had to laugh, understanding the feeling well. "Sounds like there's a story there."

"I'll tell you mine if you'll tell me yours," she said.

He considered a beat and then laughed inwardly at himself. "How do you feel about Storyteller's character breakfast?"

"Pretty long wait unless you—"

"I have a reservation."

She eyed him, and he realized that sounded creepy as hell. He was about to apologize and explain but heard her mutter, "Fuck it," under her breath. "Yeah. I've had an incredibly surreal morning. Eating breakfast with six-foot-tall woodland creatures sounds like the perfect next step."

His lips twitched upward. "I'm Edward, by the way. Edward Cullen." He offered his hand.

She took it. Her hand was warm and small but firm. He felt an odd tingle in the pit of his stomach. "Bella Swan," she said, with a small but genuine smile.

 _ **~0~**_

Bella began her tale with, "So, here's the deal. I'm going to give you the basics of the situation, and you can't ask me too many questions. I'm stuck on being pissed the hell off, and if you make me cry, I'll kill you. I'll cry later. Pissed off at Disneyland I can handle, but not weepy."

The story she told was short and to the point. A nine-year relationship with a man with a difficult family. He vaguely understood this Jasper character's point. And, he understood the idea he'd had to make a quick, hard decision. "But to have you come all the way out here? It seems like the least he could have done was go to you."

Bella scoffed, dragging a bit of pancake through whipped cream and spearing a strawberry slice. "I don't even know what the hell he was thinking. Jasper isn't an asshole, or he never had been." She shook her head. "I don't know who the hell he was today."

They waved off yet another character, both of them smiling politely until they had wandered away. Then Edward offered Bella a wry smile. "So, this jackass dragged you all the way out here to try and ruin Disneyland for you. Meanwhile, I also drove from San Diego to try to ruin Disneyland for myself. Because I'm that kind of moron."

"You live in San Diego?"

"Well. I live in El Cajon, but close enough."

"Chula Vista here." She waved a hand. "So, how and why are you ruining the House of Mouse for yourself? I've been trying to figure out why you would have a reservation to eat here by yourself."

Edward sighed, pushing his eggs around his plate. "I wasn't supposed to be here by myself." He shoved the plate away with a grunt. "Okay, I'm going to preface this by saying I already know it's pathetic."

"I'm not going to judge. You know, probably."

He had to smile at her honesty. "Okay…" He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the ache in his chest. It still felt weird to say the words out loud. "So, Princess Leia's name is Kate. Long story short, we've been together for four years. I thought we were happy, but…" He shrugged. "Two and a half weeks ago now, she called me. She was on a cruise. She takes a vacation every year with her sisters. So, she calls me from Alaska and says, there's a guy. She wants to have have sex with him, and she isn't a cheater." He stared down at his plate. "She called to end the relationship so she could have guilt-free sex."

There was silence for four long seconds. "I… Whoa," Bella finally said. "So she… I mean…" She put her fork down and ran a hand through her hair. "That's fucked up."

"That's not even the pathetic part."

"Well, not on your part anyway. I'm not sure about hers. Pathetic isn't the word…"

"I was going to propose today," Edward said quietly.

Bella's eyes went wide, then, her shoulders slumped and her face fell. "Oh...Oh, shit."

"I had the whole day planned. It's the fourth anniversary of our first Disney date." He huffed. "I bet she wouldn't have remembered that part anyway. But I planned it. This reservation. I have another for a late lunch at Ariel's Grotto. Prime World of Color tickets—you know, the ones that come with that fancy dessert tray?"

"Jesus."

"See? I drove myself all the way over here from El Cajon to live the day I planned to propose to my girlfriend alone." He gestured to his chest. "Customary shirt and all."

Bella was quiet at that, and Edward thought maybe it had been a bad idea to eat anything. He was nauseated, and he was sure this virtual stranger thought he was the world's biggest loser.

"Hey," she said, and to his surprise she was smiling at him. "Here's a crazy idea, and feel free to say no."

He quirked a single eyebrow and waited.

"You've got this whole day planned. If you're going to live it anyway, how about some company?"

Both his eyebrows shot for his hairline.

"I mean, I get that it's not the same. Obviously, don't do the whole proposal thing," she said quickly. "But misery loves company, right? At some point today, if you leave me alone, I'm going to start _thinking,_ and we all know how that's going to go."

"You're going to drive to his place and key his car?"

"Ah, that's possible."

"So, what you're saying is, the responsible thing for me to do is distract you. You know, to keep you out of jail for vandalism." The knot in Edward's throat loosened a little. A very little, but enough that he could breathe again.

"We're already wearing the matching shirts. It's fate. It's...something, anyway."

Edward considered. Hang out with a pretty woman and wallow together instead of alone? Well, that was a no-brainer, wasn't it? And, she was surprisingly easy to talk to.

"Okay, Bella Swan. It's a date."

She grinned. Her eyes were still sad, but it was such a pretty smile.

* * *

 **A/N: Time for a rec! AushaPasha is writing a story about a vengeful, cursed Bella who is out to fuck up the lineage of the guys who've wronged her. Too bad for brothers Edward and Carlisle, their ancestor was one of the guys who murdered her.**

 **Check out The Siren's Curse by AushaPasha. It's going to be a great ride.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Shorty chap this time.**

* * *

Bella liked this Edward Cullen guy. He was easy to talk to, surprisingly funny given that this should have been a depressing day for him. For that matter, she was pretty sure if not for him, she'd have been crying her eyes out before lunch. Even Disneyland couldn't have kept her from thinking about what's-his-face all day.

For being a random stranger, Edward was engaging as hell. It was like she'd won the stranger lottery. He was interesting too, telling her stories about his obnoxious older brother and sister. They were obnoxious in that wonderful way Bella had always dreamed siblings could be.

They swapped stories about their parents. He thought her mother sounded fascinating. She would have used the words flighty and irritating. The number of personal crises Bella had solved for her mother long distance prohibited her from thinking it was any kind of charming. By contrast, the worst thing he could say about his parents was that his dad told too many bad dad jokes and his mother could get a little too enthusiastic about being perfectly supportive.

"After Kate left me, she flew down because she swore up and down someone needed to cook for me. I'm the one who did the cooking in the relationship."

At Ariel's Grotto, Bella took pictures of him with all the wandering princesses, joking that this was the Disney nerd version of going out with hot women to show Kate what she was missing.

"Now if only they'd do the right thing and acknowledge Princess Leia as an actual Disney princess, Kate would rue the day," Bella said.

"Not going to lie, I think I would actually fangirl." He furrowed his brow. "Now that I think about it, there's a disturbing lack of any female presence representing Star Wars at Disneyland. You can get a picture with Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Boba Fett and Stormtroopers, but not Leia, Rey, or Captain Phasma."

"I mean...Stormtroopers can be women. How would you know?"

"They talk. They never sound like women."

"Stereotype much?" Bella clucked her tongue as though she were so ashamed of him.

So, in spite of the fact Bella's heart had been well and thoroughly broken that morning, she had a fairly good day. They got a good number of rides in. Crowds were reasonable. They caught the tail end of the Play Parade, and Edward proved he could stand in for a Dapper Dan in a pinch.

It was World of Color that did her in.

World of Color was a show in California Adventure. The waters of Paradise Bay danced set to music, color, and Disney's classic moments. Never did Bella feel like more of a wide-eyed child, full of wonder, than during one of Disney's shows.

Jasper loved World of Color. He bounced in place and hummed along with the songs. And, of course, in the more romantic parts, like when they played a portion of "A Whole New World", he'd take her in his arms and sing to her.

Her throat got tighter and tighter. Her eyes stung like crazy, and it was kind of hard to breathe.

Then, Mufasa's death scene from "The Lion King" segued into the Disney orphans with their lost parents which segued into a montage of the most romantic scenes from Disney movies all set to Enchanted's "So Close."

Bella shivered, remembering how many times Jasper had pulled her close, wrapped her in his arms and swayed them to the music, kissing her a princess's kiss right along with Cinderella and her Prince.

She'd have sworn she'd never listened to the lyrics of the song before. It sounded romantic, but…

So close to reaching

That famous happy end

Almost believing

This one's not pretend

Fuck, she was going to bawl.

"I was going to do it right now. Right here."

Bella jumped. She'd forgotten there was someone right beside her. "What?"

Edward wasn't looking at her. He was staring sightlessly at the water, and she noticed he had a box in his hands. She took a deep breath. If he'd planned to propose right at this moment—the height of romance and emotion in the whole show—he was having a worse time than she was. "That's some stellar planning. You have a sense of drama," she said lightly.

He ducked his head, a small, humorless smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I've heard that before. Usually in exasperation, but I was going for the opposite in this case."

"I hear that's a good thing to do for proposals." She touched the top of the box. "Can I see?"

"Yeah, sure." He opened the box, letting it rest on his palm as she tilted it toward her.

Bella gasped. "Oh, man." She reached out before she thought about it and stroked the stone. She wasn't a jewelry girl, but this ring was simply gorgeous. Even in the darkness of the evening, it sparkled. "Uh...this is the prettiest ring I've ever seen."

"Oh! Oh! He's proposing!" a voice squeaked.

Bella and Edward sat up straight. They'd been bent forward with their heads close together so they could hear each other over the noise of show. They both stared as a woman at the table next to them stood up, yelling loud enough to get everyone's attention. "He proposed! A proposal!"

Cheers and shouts broke out around them. Someone hugged her. Clapped her shoulders. Someone else thwacked Edward on the back in congratulations, all set to the ending number of the show. It was a chaos of cheers, whoops, hollers, water, fire, lasers, and light. It was way too noisy for Edward and Bella to set the record straight. She caught his eye, and his bewildered face turned into a grin. He laughed. She laughed. They both rolled their eyes and pretended, for a few minutes, that they were newly engaged.

Disney magic at work. Oh well. It was better than crying.

 _ **~0~**_

It was a solid forty minutes before they were able to make it to the exit of the park. People kept stopping to congratulate them. They were festooned with buttons of celebration. At some point, Edward had slung his arm casually over her shoulder, and rather than feel so wrong, it felt okay. Natural. He didn't mean anything by it.

There was an odd sense that this moment belonged to them. Like they were together. Not romantically. Not in the same way friends were, but they were a package, united in the face of mutual heartbreak. He was hers and she was his. It was just one of those weird, mutual moments.

But, at the gate, as they slipped out to the entrance plaza, his hand fell from her shoulders. The spell was broken. Disney magic indeed.

Bella sighed, wrapping her arms around herself as they headed in the direction of the trams. Then, she gasped, and hurriedly took the gorgeous engagement ring she'd slipped on her finger at some point off. "Look at that. I'm a thief. That'd round my day out pretty well. Getting thrown in jail."

He chuckled wryly. "Oh, yeah. It's not like you have a park full of people who witnessed our engagement or anything." He took the ring she offered, slipped it back into the box, and put the box in his pocket.

"So, that was interesting."

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Hey, that was probably a happier ending than I was ever going to get. Imagine what would have happened if I'd proposed before she went on the cruise. If she was feeling detached enough to do what she did, it wouldn't have ended well." He rolled his shoulders, his light tone not matching the hurt in his eyes. "You know someone would have ended up catching it on their cell phone, and I'd have gone viral as the asshole who got shut down at a Disneyland proposal."

Bella didn't know what to say to that. Before she could think of a response, he sighed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to go there."

"Hey." Tentatively, she put a hand on his arm and gave it a squeeze. "Don't apologize to me. Venting isn't a bad thing."

He hummed, glancing at her. "That goes both ways. I shouldn't be dumping this on you today of all days. Today had to suck for you."

"Parts of it sucked." She smiled. "But none of the parts with you."

His eyes met hers, and there was a surge of weird energy between them. She was feeling a lot of things right then—confusion, anger, heartache among them—but for a split second, she was breathless.

The tram drove up and they had to wait through the shuffle of people. There were exactly two spots left on that tram, one right in front of the other. Edward held her door open before he took the spot in front of her.

They spent the short tram ride to the parking structure in silence, and Bella was glad for the distraction thinking about Edward caused. She'd take it over thinking about Jasper. She was still in fuck-that-guy mode.

When they got off the tram, Bella was quick enough that she got to hold the door open for him. He smirked and thanked her. They fell into step next to each other again. "So," she said.

"So," he said.

They were almost to the escalators. "I'm on Mickey," she said, indicating the level of the structure she was parked on.

His smile was rueful. "Goofy." Not even the same escalator.

She rocked onto the balls of her feet. "So, Facebook friends?"

He laughed and nodded. "Yeah. Definitely." He hesitated a moment before he stepped closer to her, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry Han Solo is such a prick."

"Ah, what do you expect from a half-witted, scruffy-looking nerfherder anyway?" She smiled as she let him go, pretending her heart didn't hurt. "I'm sorry Princess Leia is an asshole."

"Yeah." He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. "Thank you for today."

"You too."

He let go of her. "I'll see you."

That thought made her strangely happy. "Yeah."

* * *

 **A/N: I am SO late for work. But! I posted, so I got my priorities straight. Hehehe.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: And, I'm back. Let's see what these kids are up to.**

* * *

"What? What? Fuck."

No one had ever accused Edward of being eloquent at ass-thirty in the morning, particularly not when he'd been dragged awake by the persistent chime of his cell phone. He grabbed at it. Usually, hitting it was enough to get the alarm to turn off, but then, that brrrrraaaap, braaaap, brraaaap wasn't his alarm.

Birdsong. That was his alarm. This wasn't that.

Blinking, Edward dragged his phone off the nightstand into bed with him. Shivering in the early morning chill, he pulled his comforter over his head and stared at the thing, trying to figure out why it was going haywire. He looked first at the time, and groaned when he realized he still had ten minutes before his alarm was set to go off. There wasn't anything more heartbreaking than that.

His phone chimed again, and this time he caught the flash of a message.

Mike Newton has commented on a status you're tagged in.

Who the hell was Mike Newton?

He shook his head hard when he realized the Facebook indicator had a tiny 47 by it. He had 47 new messages on Facebook. And five text messages.

When the next status alert came up, he clicked on it and was taken to this annoyingly popular message he'd been tagged on. Reading the words, he balked and brought the phone up close to his face as though the screen were merely blurry. Nope. The message there was clear as day.

Bella Swan is in a relationship with Edward Cullen.

"What the actual hell?"

After a busy couple of days at work, Edward had finally gotten around to accepting Bella's Facebook friend request the night before. After that, he'd promptly fallen asleep. Apparently, the woman had gone slightly psychotic. And he'd really liked her too. She'd been so fun. She'd made what should have been a horrible day a relatively happy one.

Damn. He'd really liked her.

With a groan, he hauled himself upright, grabbing his laptop from where it lay beside him and flicking it awake. He navigated to Facebook and started reading.

Almost instantly, his stomach twisted. Something was wrong. Very wrong. More wrong than a woman he'd met five minutes ago announcing to the world they were in a relationship.

As could be expected, a lot of the responses from her friends were along the lines of, "Wtf?! What happened to Jasper?!" Meanwhile, his friends' reactions could be summed up with, "Uh…grats?"

What disturbed him most was Bella's responses. All of them had some variation of, "Yep. It's true. I'm a huge slut!" To his friends, her replies were more introductory. "Nice to meet you. I'm Bella, and I'm a bitch. But that's okay. Edward is an asshole, so we deserve each other."

As he tried to pull of a thread of what appeared to be a few of Bella's friends commenting that this must be some kind of joke or mistake, the whole post gave him an error. It took him a minute to realize the post had been deleted. Bella's relationship status was then updated from in a relationship to single.

"Well, that was my shortest relationship," Edward muttered to himself, scrubbing a hand over his face. He clicked on messenger and sent Bella a quick and eloquent message.

Edward: Uh?

Bella: God, I'm sorry. Hold on.

His alarm went off, distracting Edward for a few seconds, and when he looked back, he found he'd been tagged in yet another Facebook status.

Bella Swan: So, about that status. Long story short? Yes, Jasper and I have broken up. No, there was no cheating involved, and I'm not in another relationship. My best guess for all this is that I had my Facebook login saved on Jasper's computer. Edward Cullen is a friend. Sorry for all this, Edward.

Edward reread the status a few times. Something wasn't adding up. He brought up messenger again and saw the tiny message at the bottom indicating Bella was typing.

Bella: I just got woken up by my phone going berserk, so I'm still trying to catch up.

The indicator at the bottom said Bella wasn't done, but by then, Edward was distracted by the messages coming in on the status.

Peter Damon: You're a fucked up whore and a liar, Bella. How messed up do you have to be to get engaged the same day you call it off?

Mike Newton: Whoa.

Jessica Stanley: Wtf is going on right now?!

Bella Swan: Peter, you don't know what you're talking about. I'm not engaged.

Peter Damon: You're such a fucking liar. Jasper saw him propose to you.

Angela Weber: Just because someone proposed doesn't mean she said yes.

Peter Damon: She said yes. He saw it. How long has this been going on behind Jasper's back, slut?

"Oh, holy hell," Edward muttered under his breath. Anger churned in his gut. He got that this guy was mad and defending his friend, but the hate he was spewing was vile and uncalled for. If he could manage not to call Kate names like that, then this guy could stand to keep a civil tongue.

Brow furrowed, he began typing a pointed and scathing response, distracted every once in awhile as the fight raged on without him. He almost didn't hear the door to his apartment open.

"Little brother, what are you doing still in bed? We're going to be late."

Edward didn't turn to greet his sister, intent on what he was doing. "Hold on, Alice."

Alice walked over, standing over him with her arms crossed. "Edward Cullen, you—"

"Hold on."

"What? Are you finally typing up a nasty e-mail to Kate, the queen of Asshole Island?"

He scoffed. "No. I'm explaining to this asshole that Bella isn't a slut, and she definitely didn't cheat on his friend. Well, at least not with me."

There was silence from his sister for two whole beats, which was unusual. "Wait. What?" she asked finally.

"Someone must have caught the whole proposal thing on video," he muttered to himself. "I thought it would be too dark."

"Edward." Alice dropped onto the side of the bed and gave his shoulders a shake. She tilted her head, her wide eyes on him. "You proposed to someone? Who the hell is Bella?"

"I didn't propose," Edward said, exasperated. "That's the point. This is all messed up, and this guy is all over Facebook, disparaging Bella to her friends and mine, for that matter." He put his fingers back to the keyboard and started typing again.

"Whoa. This is Facebook drama?" Alice grabbed his wrists and held him firm.

"Alice, what the hell. I'm almost done. Just hold on."

If anything, Alice tightened her grip. "Not a chance, little brother." She clucked her tongue. "Have you learned nothing from me? Getting involved in Facebook drama never ends well."

"I'm not getting involved. I am involved. I was dragged into this."

"What have you told me before? There's nothing classy about having a fight on Facebook for everyone and their mother—and your mother, come to think of it—to see. Stay out of it. Whatever it is, you can resolve it privately."

Edward grimaced, but he grunted. "Fine. Just let me say one thing."

"Edward—"

"It's not drama. It's just the right thing to do. Hold on."

He deleted the unnecessary diatribe and cut straight the point.

Edward Cullen: I don't know what your damage is, but no human being deserves to be talked to that way. There's no reason to degrade someone. You're an adult. If you communicated rather than spewing vile nonsense, you might figure out you've got your foot so far in your mouth you're about to choke.

"I'm blocking him. I swear," Edward said to Alice. "That way, I won't be tempted to respond."

"And that's it," she warned.

"Just let me send a quick message to Bella."

"Uh huh. Fine. I'll put the coffee on. You get dressed, and then you're going to tell me who the hell this Bella person is and why you've got Facebook drama coming out of your ears."

Edward shook his head, and sent a quick message to Bella.

Edward: I don't want to make it worse, so I'm bowing out of the conversation. You don't deserve to be treated that way, regardless. Please let me know what the hell happened when you figure it out?

Bella: Yeah. I'm on the phone with Jasper now. He didn't realize what Peter had done until people started messaging him. Sorry again. Thank you.

Tempted though he was to see how the discussion was progressing, Edward managed to get out of bed. He took a quick shower, got dressed, and ignored the beeps from his phone. It took all of his considerable willpower, but he managed to look only at Bella's message on messenger as he picked up his phone and headed for the kitchen.

Bella: Okay, I was right. I did leave my Facebook login on Jasper's laptop. Peter is Jasper's BFF. Has been since they were kids in grade school. Apparently, Peter went over to Jasper's place last night, woke up this morning, found his laptop and decided it was on him to go all avenger on me.

Edward: What is it he thinks he's avenging? What did Jasper tell him?

"Jesus, kid, drink some coffee. It's way too early for this kind of thing." Alice was perched on a barstool, coffee cup in one hand and phone in the other.

"Oh, so, you get to read all the drama?"

She flashed a grin. "And, I sent Bella a friend request."

Edward groaned. "Alice."

"Start talking, bro. What the hell is going on?"

Since Bella hadn't yet responded to him, Edward told a short version of the story to Alice. Almost as soon as he was done, a message came in from Bella.

Bella: Sorry. Just got off the phone. Jasper followed me into the park that day. He wanted to make sure I was okay.

Edward: What a prince.

Bella: I know. But that part isn't as creepy as it sounds. Seems he saw us getting off the ride and heading off to breakfast together. Okay, I get that. Anyway. He swears up and down that he didn't follow us around the park all day, but he did catch a glimpse of us at World of Color.

"Ah, hell," Edward muttered.

"What's the update?" Alice asked, sipping her coffee and eyeing him over the rim. She was way too amused by all this.

"I guess Jasper caught the supposed proposal in real life."

"Ahh." Alice tilted her head, considering. "Normally I'd say guy breaks up with a gal, he doesn't get to care what the hell she does afterward. But a proposal nine hours later is a little bit jarring."

Edward made a face. "Whose side are you on?"

She arched her eyebrows. "No one's. I don't have a horse in this game. I'm just saying, it's kind of understandable that this guy vented to his bestie that his girl moved all the way on, as far as he knew, in .2 milliseconds."

"Then he, of all people, should have known her better than that. I've known her for five seconds, and I know her better than that."

She chuckled, giving him that look that always meant trouble. "My, my, my. So defensive."

"Alice."

"And you did jump in to defend her honor in front of her friends and yours."

"Alice."

She sipped her coffee again with an air of innocence. "What? These are just facts I'm stating out loud."

He pointed a finger in his sister's face. "I know that look."

"Believe me, I'm not saying you should date her. Like you need someone with that much drama in their life."

Edward frowned. "This is clearly not her fault. She didn't start this. Not even the break up."

Alice cackled at him, the expression on her face gleeful. "I'm just saying. Rebound sex isn't a bad thing."

Though a bolt of lightning went down his spine at that thought, he rolled his eyes. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure." Alice slid off her stool, but she stopped, giving him a thoughtful look. "You should invite her to the beach today."

"Will you stop?"

"I'm not talking about sex on the beach." She grinned. "Although, I'm not saying anything against it." Again, her expression gentled. "But seriously, Edward. The 'has gone from in a relationship to single' status sucks under any circumstance. This woman woke up being called every name in the book by someone she probably knows pretty well, and she'll be explaining to her friends and yours what's going on all morning. She had to talk to her ex. Correction, she probably had to yell at her ex. You know how that conversation went. She's not having a good day."

Edward frowned and ran a hand through his hair. He knew that. He'd been thinking about it nonstop since he rolled out of bed. He just didn't know what to do about it. "Invite her to the beach?"

"I know it's against the rules, but I'll make sure everyone looks the other way. Let her hang out with you in the lifeguard tower. It should be an easy day today." She shrugged. "Listening to the waves might help, and you know most cells don't get reception right where you're stationed."

Edward hesitated a beat. "You don't think that's weird? We just met."

"You said you're friends, right?"

"Yeah."

"Friends going through bad breakups at the same time. It's totally innocent."

It made sense. He turned the thought over for another few minutes as they got in the car and Alice started driving. Then, he tapped out a message.

Edward: Hey. Feel free to say no, obviously, but what do you say to a day in Coronado at the beach?

* * *

 **A/N: SoooooooOOooooOOOOoooo. Who wants to go to the beach?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Back at work after a four day weekend. Blargh. How about we all play hooky and go to the beach?**

* * *

"I just didn't know what to make of it—you walking off that ride with a stranger in that shirt. It threw me off. That's why I stayed even after I saw you were okay, but I didn't follow you. I swear I didn't. I spent the day wandering around aimlessly. It was only chance that I saw you again at the show."

Bella closed her eyes and slumped forward, her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees as she sat cross-legged on her bed. Jesus, it was way too early for all this shit.

"Bella."

"Fine," she snapped, glaring at her cell phone. She'd put it on speaker when Jasper called for the third time that morning. She kept hanging up on him, which she knew was childish, but dammit, she was pissed the hell off. "Fine. You weren't stalking me. I believe that." She did. It had been a little far-fetched to believe she wouldn't have seen Jasper, so intimately familiar to her, all day long if he'd been following her the entire day. "Are you happy now?"

"No. No, I'm not happy." On the other end of the line, Jasper made an exasperated and pained noise. "I hate what Peter said about you. I didn't say any of those things. I was drinking, and I was talking out loud because none of it made sense, Bella. I didn't understand what I saw."

"You do remember the part that came before that, right? The part where you decided that the last nine years of our lives was a great big lie, you actually do want to work in an oversized box with four walls and walk around with a stick permanently shoved up your ass like your parents have your entire life. And to do that, it requires a break up in the gospel according to Saint Jasper. You broke up with me. Did you not understand what those words meant?"

"Bella—"

"You don't have to understand what you saw. You don't get to understand what you saw. You broke up with me. You forfeit the right to know anything that happens with my life ever again."

He mumbled something Bella swore sounded a lot like, "That's not what I want."

"What did you say?" she asked, sure he couldn't possibly have the audacity to want something from her after all this.

He paused and sighed. "I didn't want it to end like this."

"Oh, okay. That makes sense, seeing as you were the one that ended it this way."

"I didn't have the right words. I couldn't find the right words," he said quietly.

"I'm hanging up now."

"Bella."

She huffed. " _What_?"

"I just…I didn't get to kiss you goodbye. I don't know. I thought we would get one last kiss."

She saw red at the same time her eyes filled with tears. "I have to go, Jasper." She used the back of her hand to wipe away her stupid tears and looked at her phone. "I'm going to the beach with my fucking fiancé."

With that, she hit the disconnect button on the phone and covered her face with her hands. She took a few deep, shuddering breaths, her jaw clenched as she tried not to cry. She was so sick of crying. Then again, crying would be preferable to hurling the phone across the room, which was the other thing she really wanted to do. Her phone was expensive. She had to remind herself of that several times before the desire subsided.

She picked up her phone again, rereading Edward's message from a minute before, asking her to come to the beach with him. She waged a brief war in her head, trying to tell herself that she should be responsible and go to work. This guy was a near total stranger, anyway.

But fuck it. She had enough sick time. She texted Edward back.

Bella: Sure, okay. A day at the beach sounds great.

 _ **~0~**_

As she pulled into a small parking lot a short walk away from the Hotel del Coronado, a tiny twinge of nerves fluttered in her belly. She had no earthly idea why. Just like she had no idea why she put the mirror down and started finger-combing her hair.

Nothing wrong with a little grooming. Edward was a random stranger, but he was a handsome random stranger. She could at least not look as wrecked as she felt in front of a stranger who was going to look as he had the other day—disheveled in that attractive way.

Anyway, it was nice to think of something benign in her sea of otherwise overburdened, dark, painful thoughts. She hated how her head felt clouded and her shoulders so heavy. She hated the way her mind kept replaying memories.

They'd been happy. She knew she hadn't imagined that. And they'd been excited for the life they were building together, excited for their chosen careers. How had he arrived, in the space of a few days, in a place that took his life to the opposite end of the universe from where he'd wanted to be?

Bella closed her eyes briefly, breathing in the sea air and letting the steady tempo of the waves center her. This was where she felt most at peace—on the ocean. It had made her happy that her new friend thought of the beach as a good place to go when your heart was broken.

Edward had told her to meet him at the lifeguard station right in front of the hotel. It was a good landmark. She wondered—

"Oh, whoa." Bella stopped short, stunned by the sight in front of her.

Not only was Edward already there, but he was already dressed for the beach. He was off to the side of the lifeguard station, clad only in red swim trunks. He was standing with his back to her, looking out at the ocean with his clasped hands stretched high above his head. In the space of one second, Bella discovered she had a thing for shoulders.

And backs.

She already knew about her thing for asses, especially ones that looked like that one did.

Bella shook her head hard. Right. Thinking like that in passing was fine, but she had to spend time with this guy. As discombobulated as she was right then, she was likely to let a Freudian slip slip.

Edward, oblivious to her ogling, sank down, stretching one leg all the way out on the sand. Oh, so he was limber. Well, wasn't that a pleasant distraction from all the bullshit flying around in her head. Also, he was doing this popping thing with his ass. He switched, stretching out his other leg. He bent his body over his extended leg, his muscles doing a rolling thing up his back to his shoulders.

Right. She actually had a standing invitation to get closer. She stepped off the sidewalk and crossed the sand to him. He was still down on the sand when she came to stand over him. "Hello, future husband."

His grin spread wide as he pushed up to his feet. "Hey there, future wifey."

"I've decided on a date."

He cocked his head, confused. "Date?"

"For the wedding. I was thinking August thirteenth. It's a month before my birthday so I figure that would make it easier to remember."

He chuckled. He had a nice laugh. "Can't argue with logic like that."

Bella leaned on the lifeguard station, letting her veneer of levity fall away. "You were really cool about today. I'm so sorry that happened."

He mimicked her stance, leaning against the station. "Quit apologizing. None of that was your fault." He tilted his head toward her. "All things considered, Peter probably did me a favor. I know of at least two relatives who were planning to do me the favor of setting me up on a date at the next family get-together, including my mother."

Bella blanched. "Wait. Did your mother see that whole thing?"

His lip twitched. "Of course she did."

"Oh, no." Bella slumped against the station, covering her face with her hands.

He laughed. "She called me up and said, 'Give me the condensed version of the real story so I can give you either the "Follow your heart; when you know, you know" speech or the "Son, you know I love you, but maybe you want to walk back your latest act of total lunacy" speech.'"

Bella choked on a laugh. "So you're a lunatic? Well, that's good information to have."

"Ah, could come in handy." He patted the side of the lifeguard station. "You mind if we climb up?" He gestured to the front of the station where the stairs were.

"Climb up?"

"If you want to go straight to the water, I'd understand. I have to hang back here, though."

"No, I mean don't you think the lifeguard station is off limits?"

Edward gave her a bemused look. "Not for the lifeguard." He turned, grabbing the metal bars and pulling himself up through a space in the railing. He sat with his legs dangling off the edge, looking down at her.

"You're a lifeguard?" She was a little slow on the uptake today, and he wasn't helping with that stunning display of biceps. That she extended her hand to him so he could help pull her up rather than use the perfectly good set of stairs was also the biceps' fault.

"It's not my day job, if that's what you're asking. But, I do it as a favor to my sister when there's a need." He gestured at the hotel behind them. "She's currently Assistant Director of Banquets, but she used to work with the team out here. This job was my first job after I ran away from my parents."

"Including the mother who thinks you're a lunatic?"

"My parents are good people, but you know." He shrugged. "I was seventeen." He wrinkled his nose. "And it was Alaska."

Bella's eyes went wide. "You lived in Alaska?" Looking at him now, she would have thought he was born tanned. She couldn't picture him in the snow.

"Technically, I was born in Chicago, but yeah. We moved to Alaska when I was a baby, and by the time I was seventeen, I'd had enough, which is why I never went with Kate," he said with a shake of his head. "Anyway, at the end of my senior year, I set down my pencil, turned in my last final, got in my car and drove."

"You drove from your high school parking lot down here?"

He nodded, a fond smile on his face. "Alice understands me. She knew what it was to need to be away from our tiny town and away from their well-meaning but way-too-involved parents. She installed me on her couch, handled the phone calls from our father who couldn't comprehend that I wasn't going to go on to his old alma mater. Then, she set me to work on the beach."

"That's a sweet story."

"Alice has her moments." He rolled his eyes. "She's also extremely nosy. I don't know if you're checking your Facebook after that debacle, but she sent you a friend request."

"I haven't checked them, but I noticed I got quite a few of them."

"Me too." He pulled his cell phone from his trunks' pocket. "So, which friend requests should I accept, and which did Jasper get in the divorce?"

Bella flinched, but the question caught her so off guard that she was almost instantly distracted. "You want to be friends with my friends?"

He looked away from his phone to her, his pretty green eyes studying her face. "Unless you think it's too weird. That's the original point of Facebook, right? Networking?" He shrugged. "No big deal if you don't want me to, but I think you're cool so at least some of your friends might be worth knowing too." He bumped her side lightly. "All of this bullshit sucks right now. I mean it _really_ sucks. But years from now, you and I are going to be hanging around with some of these people, laughing our asses off because it's also really ridiculous."

Despite the ache in her heart, her chest felt warm at the idea he was already assuming they'd be friends for a long time. Edward was so easy to talk to.

They sat together, watching the waves and the people milling on the beach. They discovered they were in related fields—him in coastal engineering and her in marine biology. They shared a deep love and respect of the ocean. Edward, of course, was also a surfer. When he found out Bella had done barely more than sit on a board, he started talking about teaching her.

"I'll help you. I'll show you how to balance." His eyes twinkled as he winked at her. "And hey, if you fall off, you know I can save you."

A handsome, geek of a man with life saving skills. Of course that explained the twitter in her stomach, right? The little flutter of nerves and the surge of pleasure? She was only human, after all.

Edward was called to work then, when a family ambled up to his station with questions and concerns. Bella pulled her legs up onto the wood platform, staring out at the waves again, lost in thought, irritated at the pang of guilt she'd felt at wanting to spend more time with Edward. It was strange that she felt so easy with the man when they were barely more than strangers.

She'd felt as though she'd known him forever. Where that bit of information stood amidst everything else going on in her head, Bella didn't know. She didn't know much these days except that her heart hurt and her head ached, and she wasn't quite sure which way was up.

"Hey."

Edward's voice, quiet near her ear, sent another thrill of electricity down her spine. She took a deep breath and turned, stunned to find him so close to her. She hadn't even noticed that he'd sat beside her.

"Are you sure you don't want to go out in the water? You don't have to entertain me," he said, his voice light but his eyes etched with sympathy.

"It's probably not a good idea. I'm so spaced out right now, I'd probably get swept out to sea. Then you'd have to rescue me. How embarrassing would that be?"

And why did she suddenly get the image of him pulling her dramatically out of the surf, laying her limp form on the sand and performing mouth to mouth?

"I'm off in half an hour anyway. We can wander the hotel shops, if you want, or…"

"Or?"

He looked sheepish. "Alice invited us to a late lunch. I can tell her to fuck off."

"Well, that'd be rude, wouldn't it?" Bella considered a moment. "No, lunch would be good. Especially if your sister is one of the people we'll be laughing about all this with in a few years."

Half an hour later, after Edward had changed into a shirt—damn—and longer shorts, they wandered the shops of the hotel as he'd suggested. They spent entirely too long in Spreckels, debating the merits of chocolate with various things in them—potato chips, strawberries, peppers—and the ginormous sour gummy snake. The two-foot long snake won, and they shared, spoiling their lunch as they continued on.

Bella needled Edward until he told her any and all Kate the Ghost of Hotel del Coronado stories he knew.

"Wait. Wait," Edward said when she razzed him about his own story of flickering lights and disembodied shadows. "You're the one who forced me to tell you my Kate story, and now you're mocking me mercilessly. You don't believe in ghosts?"

"I don't _not_ believe in ghosts. You ever notice that old hotels always have female ghosts? Most of whom killed themselves over a man?"

"But our ghost has been documented by many ghost hunters with all their flashy equipment. There are shows."

"Oh, then it must be true if it was on television."

They'd arrived outside a large banquet hall where they were supposed to meet Alice. The doors were open and what looked to be an overly fancy wedding was in full swing. Bella peered in, curious.

"Alice said she'd be about ten more minutes," Edward said.

"That's cool. I'm being a looky-loo anyway. Look at how swanky this is. Have you ever seen a full orchestra at a wedding?"

"Well, yes, but I've worked here for a lot of years."

Bella hummed an acknowledgement and then sighed, swaying as the music turned to a slow, romantic song.

"May I have this dance?"

Bella's head snapped up and she found Edward looking down at her. Her breath caught at the tiny smirk and his pretty eyes and the music and...

"Yeah," she said without thinking about it.

As easy as that, he pulled her into his arms. It felt remarkably good to be this close to him. He was graceful. Of course he was. He was in the California dude outfit, shorts and all, but moving around the hallway like he was damn Fred Astaire.

And then, he started to sing. "You must remember this. A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh. The fundamental things apply. As time goes by."

Bella felt dizzy somehow. She was glad his arms were around her, anyway. His voice was velvety, and the way he was looking at her…

What the hell was happening here?

She swallowed hard, dizzy for different reasons now. This whole thing was surreal. Just this morning she'd been defending herself because how dare anyone think she'd gone from one relationship to another in the space of twenty minutes?

" _It's a date,"_ Edward had said when _she_ suggested they go on his Disneyland engagement day together.

And now? Spending the morning on the beach, sharing dessert, dancing to slow-dance love songs.

He was looking at her lips.

She was looking at his.

She tilted her head up.

"Ahem."

They flew apart. Bella blinked, focusing on a woman with Edward's smirk, his green eyes—about a thousand times more mischievous at this moment—and jet black hair. "Hey, little brother."

"Alice."

Alice turned to Bella. "So. We're going to be sisters, huh?"

Bella blushed. This was going to be an interesting lunch.

* * *

 **A/N: Shout out to my group for helping me figure out wtf Edward does. Special shout out to Rhiannon Wescott who's helped me out on jobs a number of times. Pffft. Making Edward and Bella employed is overrated.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for waiting! I'm on a plane to El Paso. How are you?**

* * *

Edward was...buoyant.

It wasn't as though he'd been wallowing since Kate left him. Well, okay. There'd been a little wallowing, but that was only to be expected. He had loved the woman, after all. He'd been serious. It had only been a few weeks. He wasn't dying of a broken heart, but they hadn't been the best three weeks of his life.

Today, though, he might have believed he was walking on air. He was a walking cliche with a bounce in his step and a smile on his lips.

Another good day with Bella. She was in front of him now, walking beside his sister. They had their heads bent together and were whispering conspiratorially, both of them cackling at whatever had been said. Edward loved his family, but he and Alice had a special relationship. That should have been his first sign that Kate was trouble; she and Alice had never gotten along. Alice and Bella, however, had hit it off right away.

When they reached the parking lot, Bella paused. She stared out at the ocean and then stretched, arching her arms and tilting her head up to the sky. She had the tiniest smile on her face.

After a moment, she loosened back into a normal stance and turned. "Thank you so much for lunch," she said, stepping forward to give Alice a hug. "That was swanky."

"Swanky?" Alice laughed, rocking her in that way women did sometimes before letting her go. "You mean my leftover banquet lunch extraordinaire? All the best banquet leftovers you can shake a stick at? You're easy."

"Hey, there's a rumor about that on the internet."

Earlier today, Edward would have winced and hissed at Alice for saying that. But over the course of lunch, Alice and Bella had told every joke in human existence about the whole situation they'd woken up to that morning. As a result, some of the sting had been erased, so Edward wasn't surprised when Bella snickered at her own humor.

"Don't think coz I'm easy, I'm naive," Alice sang in what Edward knew now to be an Ani DiFranco song. It was one of the things Alice had recommended to Bella. Apparently, there was an album in the singer's repertoire that was perfect for a break up. Every other song on the album was a 'these boots are made for walking and I'm going to shove them right up your ass' kind of song. The ones in between were of the 'fuck, this sucks, you suck, everyone sucks, I'll never love again, and I want to die,' variety of grieving.

"That's the key to a successful breakup," Alice had told Bella. "At first, you gotta have equal parts grief and ass-kicking. Anger and sadness. You gotta let them both have their say. Then, you move on."

Bella gave Alice's hands one last squeeze before she turned to Edward. She went to him, wrapping him in a hug that lingered as he put his arms around her. She felt good in his arms, and the way she rested her head on his shoulder, so trusting, made his heart ache in that good way.

"You're good at this," she said, squeezing him tightly before she pulled back.

"Good at what?" he asked.

"Turning days that should really suck into good days."

"Hey, you're no slouch yourself," he said, winking at her.

Her lips turned up again with the slightest flash of teeth for just a heartbeat before she sighed. "Thanks again," she said to both of them. "For everything."

Edward felt a tug as he watched her pull out. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

And then, Alice smacked his arm. Not hard, but still, his head snapped to the side and he glared down at her. "What was that for?"

She'd narrowed her eyes at him and pointed a finger in his face. "Don't start."

"What are you talking about? Start what?"

"That thing you do. Where you fall for a woman in two minutes flat."

Edward grimaced. "I'm not—"

"You _are_ _._ No good can come of it, Edward. Not now."

"Weren't you the one encouraging me this morning?"

"Encouraging you to engage in a little rebound sex." Alice snorted. "Both of you could use it, but that's the point. You're getting over a woman you wanted to marry. Her boyfriend of nearly a decade broke up with her, what, five days ago? Six? Her heart is broken even if yours is only cracked. Falling for a woman like that can't end well. Not today."

Edward was taken aback, silent as they headed back to the hotel. "What do you mean that thing I do?" he asked quietly.

She sighed. "I didn't mean to say that. Twice isn't really a pattern."

"But what did you mean?"

"Kate, and that girl before her. When you were a Freshman? You've never been the type to fall for every woman you see. I know it takes a lot to catch your eye, but when someone does, every time someone does—and again, I get that this makes three times, which isn't that much—you go from zero to a hundred overnight. It's a romantic notion that makes for some great movies, but look what's happened."

Edward was quiet again, chafing but also considering his sister's words.

The day after Kate had gotten back from the cruise, she'd come by his place to pick up her things. "I wasn't unhappy," she'd said, her look wistful and almost pitying as she spoke, her eyes open and honest. "I was never unhappy. Just...you were a whirlwind. It was exciting at first. Being loved by you was intense, and I got caught up in it. I never saw forever, but you made me want to. You really made me want to. I tried, because our day-to-day was great. A lot of couples have a lot of good years on much less. But it didn't take, Edward. That's all."

And there was Alice's remark, so flippant she probably hadn't even realized it stung quite as badly as it had.

" _Her heart is broken even if yours is only cracked."_

In hindsight, and after a few weeks of soul-searching, he'd come to the realization that Kate's loss didn't ache as much as it should have. His elder brother Emmett had said that was good. "After what she did, she doesn't deserve to be missed, bro."

But that wasn't the whole point. No, what Kate had done hadn't been good or nice, but it didn't mean Edward didn't have to acknowledge his role. Especially because, now that he thought of it, his first relationship had ended on a similar note.

"Edward, we're not even twenty years old. You have our whole lives planned out, and I like you. I may even love you, but the rest of my life is a long time, man."

Beside him, Alice sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to bring you down. It was nice to see you smile again, and Bella's great. She really is. I like her. I don't want either of you to get hurt."

He fixed her with a narrowed eye. "So, to recap, you think the idea of me asking her out on a _third_ date is the epitome of stupidity, but I should definitely try to fuck her."

"It _was_ a good idea. Breakups suck. Right now, Bella feels lonely and undesirable and ugly and unworthy. And so do you. There's nothing wrong with rebound sex, and you two obviously have the chemistry."

"But?"

"Haven't you been paying attention?" She gave him a playful poke in the ribs. "You can't even be trusted to get some simple ass, Edward Cullen. If you tried to sleep with her, you and I know damn well you'd fall in love with her." She put her arm through his, grinning at him. "No sex for you, possibly ever again."

"Damn," Edward deadpanned. "Good thing I have you, my sister, to dictate my love life."

"Someone has to."

Edward draped an arm over Alice's shoulder as they walked on. "So, even if I gave it a little time…"

"Edward." She said his name with a sharp warning. "If you're only nice to her, pretending to be her friend because you want something more, you're just one of those assholes who whines about being put in the friendzone. Like the only way a woman is interesting to you is if you can have her. She needs a friend, and telling her you can be a friend when you really want something more is just deceptive. Who knows what will happen in the future, but it's not a good idea to make it an aim." She rubbed his back comfortingly. "And don't you think you can stand a little distance?"

He bristled. "Don't make it sound like I'm one of those people who can't stand not being in a relationship. You know that's not me."

"No, it's not. But you are the guy who gets distracted by the romance of a situation. You wander into a meet-cute and you start talking about fate and destiny."

"The heart wants what it wants," Edward said. "We don't chose who we fall for, and that means we don't just get to choose when. Yeah, the timing sucks, but—"

"But who cares?" She folded her arms across her chest looking at him. "That's the idea, right? True love is supposed to be the thing that you listen to above everything else? That's bullshit, and it's destructive. Some matches are just plain bad no matter what you feel. A married man falls for the woman in his yoga class. You think he should just go for it? Because of love? An eighteen-year-old girl falls in love with a guy who she finds out is planning a string of bank heists. No problem? You're saying if Bella's ex walked in here, and turned out to be my soulmate, I should just ignore every social rule and go after him because the heart wants what the heart wants?"

Edward tensed, not liking the idea of that bastard anywhere near his sister or Bella. "You made your point. I wasn't going to do anything anyway." He knew all those things, of course. He knew Bella needed space to grieve, and he needed to figure out his part in the demise of his relationship. "Mom and Dad always made it look easy. Effortless."

To his surprise, Alice snorted. She patted his shoulder. "You like your pretty stories, don't you? You still think they fell in love at first sight?"

He arched an eyebrow. "I know you grew up hearing the same stories I did…"

"And then some." She pressed onto her tiptoes to ruffle his hair. "They fell in love at first sight—when you know, you know, right?" She shook her head. "They were sixteen when she fell out of a tree at his feet, breaking her leg so he had to carry her to the nurse. She looked into his eyes, and he into hers, and they 'just knew.'" Alice actually used air-quotes. "Luckily for our existence, they were ripped apart before they could do anything about it." Grandfather Cullen had uprooted his family in the middle of Carlisle's junior year in high school. "And fate brought them together ten years later, where, by chance, their eyes meeting across a crowded room."

Alice rolled her eyes, but she smiled. "But that story is missing the context. They didn't fall in love at first sight when they were sixteen. They were attracted to each other. It was luck that they met again when they were older—after they'd had a chance to figure a few things out for themselves, and after they were more developed as adults. You know what I mean. And even then, it's not like they fell into each other's arms instantly. Did you know that Mom couldn't decide between a second date with Dad and a third date with this guy named Alistair?"

"Jeez, you wet blanket. I can't help that I like the idea of a good 'how I met your mother' story."

"If that was true, you'd never be interested in this woman."

"How do you figure?"

Alice smirked and cleared her throat. "How did I meet your mother, kids? Well, about twenty-five minutes before we met, she would have told you she was totally and completely in love with this other guy. You all could have been part Texan. Imagine that. But, luckily for you, he was an ass and broke your mother's heart. She wandered straight into me, the guy who thought it was a good idea to go on the romantic date alone, since my girlfriend was probably already half naked when she called me to break up with me."

Edward stopped short. He blinked. Then, he barked out a laugh. "That's a terrible love story."

"Exactly."

 _ **~0~**_

That evening, Edward's Facebook feed was full of carnage. It looked like a battle had been waged in the post he was tagged in from that morning. His friends had tagged him multiple times, trying to figure out what the hell was going on and who this Bella person was. There was a lot of confusion amongst Bella and Jasper's mutual friends, and it seemed to have gotten ugly while she was out on the beach with him.

Ah, that awkward post-breakup phase where, try though they might, friends ended up choosing sides. He pulled up messenger and tapped out a quick message to Bella.

Edward: How are you holding up?

She responded with two gifs—one from Lilo and Stitch from the beginning when Stitch wouldn't stop trying to destroy everything in sight and the other of a character seeming to collapse forward onto his face.

He clucked his tongue, wishing he could give her a hug. Instead, he sent back a Gif of a man comforting a bereft woman by patting her on the back with a broom in a 'there, there' motion.

Edward: All the friend drama will calm down. They'll figure out how to be friends with both of you.

Bella: I don't want some of them back. Not after today.

Edward: Yeah?

She sent him screen grabs of a nasty messenger conversation she'd been subjected to by a woman named Maria. Apparently, Maria had never thought she deserved Jasper, and she was nothing but glad he'd finally kicked her to the curb.

Bella: Good riddance to bad baggage. I always thought she had a thing for Jasper. I won't miss her. I only regret that I'd already bought the Maritime Museum tickets. She wanted to go because she was supposed to visit next week.

Edward: Have you ever been?

Bella: Isn't it funny? I've lived out here for years, but there's so much of the tourist stuff I haven't done. I've always thought it would be cool to be inside a submarine.

Edward tapped his fingers on the arm of his couch, making himself consider what he was doing. Was he acting as a friend?

Deciding he was, he sent the next message.

Edward: You don't have to waste the ticket. I'll buy one off you, if you want. I love the place.

There was a pause. Then, those dots at the bottom of the screen.

Bella: Only if you tell me about the ghost on the Star of India. I know you know it.

He did, but only because Alice knew every ghost story in San Diego.

Edward: You'll make fun of me again.

Bella: Well, yeah, but why would that stop you?

Edward: I guess I am a glutton for punishment. Okay, you're on.

* * *

 **A/N: See you soon, ducks!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: My duckies. You're all over the map with your reaction to Alice.**

 **Just remember that while we know Edward and Bella are meant to be, if you were Edward's sister, and he had the propensity to get too serious too fast, you maybe might be just a wee bit wary of him falling hard for a woman he met a week ago literally 25 minutes after she got out of a nine year relationship. Don't worry! Something tells me it will work out okay. ;)**

* * *

No one liked crying. People said it was necessary, part of the grieving process, but Bella didn't buy that. Besides, these were the same people who said Jasper didn't deserve her tears, her sorrow, or her grief, so that was confusing.

It wasn't like what Jasper had done to her that day had turned off her love for him. They'd been together nine years. For the most part, it was the muscle memory that killed her. The things she was just used to. There were shows she couldn't watch without automatically reaching for her phone to call Jasper—they'd watched certain shows together whether in person or on the phone. When a weekend appointment at work popped up, she checked their shared calendar only to remember she knew for certain she had no plans with him.

All of that hurt. She was so sick of the sting in her eyes when she missed him. She was sick of the terrible twist of her heart and the persistent ache in her chest. She wished with everything in her she could reprogram her head, if not her heart. The endless, unanswerable questions drove her crazy.

What would she have done if he'd come to her instead of making a decision for both of them? What would she have done if he'd told her that, in the course of one day, he'd decided to send his life in the exact opposite direction they'd been traveling for nine years? That he was moving to be a person he'd actively fought being? That he was moving to a city she would hate to live in, where her job would have been all but impossible to do? And even if she could do her job there, would she have decided to follow him when it meant giving up a scholarship and all the progress she'd made toward her degree?

What would she have done if she'd had to make a decision overnight? It was a moot point, but that didn't stop her brain from turning over scenarios.

Now, the tears were threatening again. She'd clenched her teeth as she set about the task of removing Jasper from her space. She'd gathered all the random items that had accumulated in her apartment over the years, ignoring the sting as she viciously pushed memories out of her head. His clothes. His books. His toothbrush and an electric razor. She tried not to remember the way he'd tease her skin, rubbing his chin on her cheek when his stubble got out of control.

Bella slammed the box shut, gnashing her teeth, but it was no use. She started crying. By the time she wrote Jasper's name and address on the damn thing, she was sobbing. Frustrated, she kicked the box before she curled up in a ball and let the misery have her for a few minutes.

When the worst of it had subsided, Bella dragged herself to her feet. She headed for the shower. She had plans to see Edward in an hour, and that made her feel better.

 _ **~0~**_

You couldn't really see the open ocean from the Maritime museum. The museum was a collection of ships and submarines semi-permanently moored to a dock in the San Diego Bay. Bella found the ocean peaceful when she was out in the water or listening to the waves roll up on the beach.

The bay, like most heavily-trafficked bodies of water, was a bit dirty and a bit noisy to be truly peaceful. Still, the scent of the salt air, the sound of the gulls, and the movement of the water was soothing. Bella sat perched on a bench, watching the traffic out on the water.

" _J'adore la mer_ ," a voice said near her ear, sending tingles down her spine. " _Si beau, si mystérieux ... si plein de poissons_."

Bella sucked in a breath. French was sexy as hell; no one could deny that, but there was something familiar about the words. She thought about it another moment before she laughed and turned around, finding Edward's face close to hers. She laughed again, a little more breathless this time, and smiled a him. "'The ocean. So beautiful, so mysterious, so full of fish?' That's a line from _French Kiss_."

He grinned. "You've seen it?"

"I have a thing for old school Kevin Kline. He was hot in that movie, and that was the funniest part."

"I'm a sucker for a witty rom-com." Edward came around to sit beside her on the bench. "How goes the Resistance, General Organa?"

Bella shook her head. "This analogy could get confusing really fast. What's the Resistance in this case? And is What's-His-Face supposed to be Han Solo? Because, you know, Leia was still pretty happy to see her ex-husband. I'm not so sure what I would do if Jasper came back, but it would probably involve my foot and his nuts."

"Well, that was a little deeper than I was expecting it to go."

Bella pressed her lips together to keep herself from speaking, but it didn't work. "That's what she said," she muttered under her breath. She crinkled her nose and then glanced at Edward to see if he'd heard.

He had, and it was clear he was trying not to laugh. When his eyes met hers, they both lost their battles. They each chuckled.

Maybe it was because he was a new friend—the only person in her life who had no idea what she was like as part of a pair—but being with Edward always made her feel calmer. It was so easy to smile around him, and such a chore with almost everyone else.

"So, shall I regale you with ghost stories so you can mock me relentlessly now?" Edward asked.

"Relentless is a pretty dramatic word. I mean, don't get me wrong. There will be mocking, but it will be light teasing. Over in less than a minute."

Edward sighed and nodded with mock-gravity. "Light teasing and over in less than a minute, huh?"

She tried. She really did, but then she saw the mischief in his eyes, and she snickered. "That's what he said."

"I've never said that."

Her cheeks flushed. He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, and turned his head to nod in the direction of the furthermost ship. He cleared his throat and took on a narrator tone. "So, the Star of India. The ship was built in the 1800's. Life aboard a ship, even a trading vessel such as this one, is never easy. Any number of deaths occur on ships from everything from accidents to illnesses.

"Though not the only deaths on board the Star of India, the ghostly phenomenon is mainly attributed to two notable deaths. The first is said to be that of a teenage stowaway named John Campbell. Put to work to earn his room and board, the boy tragically lost his foot on the rigging"—Edward pointed to the high masts and let his hand fall to the floor as he spoke—"and fell to the the deck over a hundred feet below. The fall crushed his legs, and he died from the injury three days later."

Bella shuddered, trying not to imagine what it would be like to survive an injury like that when you were stuck out on the ocean before the advent of the Coast Guard or any way to get to a hospital.

Edward leaned closer, continuing the story. "They say that Campbell most often manifests in the form of a cold spot." He tickled a spot on her back, making her suck in a breath. "Like a cold hand touching you at the spot where he fell."

"Stop that." Bella smacked at his arm. "Cold hands my ass."

He waggled his eyebrows. "The other notable ghost is that of a Chinese crewman."

"With no name, huh?"

Edward shrugged. "I'm just telling a story."

"Oh, right. Do continue."

"So, a crewman—Chinese or otherwise—was in the chain locker where the chain for the anchor is stored when the anchor is lifted."

"What the hell was he doing there?"

He gave her an exasperated look. "How the hell should I know? If you have a Ouija board, we can ask him later. Can I go on?"

She waved a hand, and he continued. "He was there for whatever reason when the Captain ordered the anchor brought up. The sound of the anchor being brought up covered the sound of the crewman's horrified screams."

Bella shuddered because that image was horrendous too, but she couldn't help her next question. "How do you know his screams were horrified if no one heard him? How did anyone know he screamed at all?"

"I'm pretty sure that part was assumed because he was being crushed to death by a huge chain."

"Oh, well. I guess that would make anyone scream. You're right."

"He's said to be the source of another cold spot near the chain locker." They both shivered, and Edward shrugged. "Besides that, some people have reported a general feeling of anxiety in the crew quarters, which is where dying men would have taken their lasts breaths. And, much more pleasantly, you can sometimes smell fresh baked bread in the kitchen and dining areas." He waved a hand. "Then the usual objects moving by themselves and footsteps heard when no one is supposed to be around."

"Right, because it's not like the ship is docked next to a really busy street. The idea someone could have been stomping around when they weren't supposed to is impossible."

Edward stood up. "Well, come on then. If you're not afraid, let's get going."

The Star of India, while slightly creepy below decks, didn't scare Bella. Nor did the HMS Surprise, a Royal Navy replica ship that had been used in _Master and Commander_ and one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, though, Edward's Jack Sparrow impersonation was frighteningly bad.

The third ship on their lineup, though...that might prove to be a different story, though not because it was haunted. It lay low in the water, a rusted black, decrepit looking monstrosity. The Soviet submarine B-39 was one of two subs in the museum, and Bella just didn't like the looks of it.

She was trying to think if there was a smooth way to suggest they didn't really need to explore the submarines when Edward's phone rang. "Give me a second," he said, striding down the dock so he could answer the call in private.

That left Bella alone with the sub. It was a weekday, so there weren't a lot of people milling the area. It figured. She tried to tell herself it was ridiculous that even the sight of the sub made her nervous. Sure, she got a touch of claustrophobia when spaces were tight, but she wasn't even standing on top of the sub.

Whether it was ridiculous or not, Bella got more and more nervous as she approached the sub. "Uh…" Bella peered down into it. "Perfectly normal," she muttered to herself. "People go down in these things all the time and no one dies." She leaned over the entrance and hissed through her teeth at the darkened metal and machinery below.

"Bella?"

She yelped and jumped. Then, she gasped as she tilted toward the hole.

"Whoa." Edward grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back to safety. She clutched the front of his shirt, her heart pounding a mile a minute. "Are you okay? Why are you so jumpy?" His eyebrows arched. "Wait a minute. You're not spooked, are you?"

"What? No." Bella chuffed and glared over her shoulder at the hole. "Look, let's go see the San Salvador instead. This thing isn't that interesting." She took a step in that direction, but Edward tightened his arm around her waist, hauling her back.

"You're scared of the ship."

"No."

"Okay, then let's go." He took her hand, pulling her in the direction of the submarine.

Bella dug her heels in. "Nope. No. That submarine is the yawning maw of evil, and I'm not dumb enough to be fooled. I've seen this horror movie."

"It's safe. It's been floating here since 2005, and it didn't sink during the Vietnam War."

"It did so sink. That's the point of a submarine. It sinks and creeps around. It sinks, and comes up, and sinks and comes up." She moved her hand up and down. Edward smirked at her, and she felt her cheeks heat. "That's what she said. Yeah, yeah, you pervert."

He laughed and bumped her side. "If you really don't want to go down, we don't have to."

"That's what…" She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, fine. We're both perverts." She stared pensively at the sub.

"Haven't you ever been in a submersible for work or class?"

"Not yet," Bella said with a sigh. "I want to go. And you know, it'll probably be different. This thing is a death trap."

"That hasn't killed anyone."

"Yet," Bella grunted in response.

"If you want to look around, I'll be right there with you," he said. "You know, so you won't be alone?"

Bella had a brief image of him putting his arm around her. That would be nice. Like in a haunted house. She was a strong, capable woman, but she couldn't deny how much it soothed her fears to have a strong, capable man to hide against when things were threatening to pop out at them. She'd feel safe in his arms; she knew it.

Where the hell had that thought come from? Bella shook it off and smirked at him. "That would be great if it were ghosties and ghoulies I was afraid of, but if the damn thing sinks, you holding my hand is only going to keep me from swimming to safety."

In the end, though, when Edward descended the ladder to take a look, Bella decided it couldn't possibly be that bad.

She was wrong. She was only halfway down the ladder when she froze, gripping the rungs like a vice so her knuckles went white. She started to tremble, and her airway started to close ever so slightly.

"Bella?"

"I think I need help," she said around a gasp.

He'd climbed back on the ladder and when she felt his hand warm against her back, some measure of relief went through her. "You're all right. I have you." His hand stroked up and down her back. "Up or down?"

"Down. Down." She'd been struck by the simultaneous fear of falling and of being consumed, trapped, drowned. She needed her feet on solid ground one way or another, and up didn't seem possible when she was trembling like she was.

"Okay. Take a step. I have you." He stepped down one rung from where he'd been. Bella took a deep breath and took a shaky step down, knowing she couldn't fall that far when he was braced against her the way he was. "Okay, one more step. Down."

Edward worked her down four more rungs before he leapt to the bottom. He put his hands around her waist, and pulled her down onto the steady ground. Her breathing was sporadic. She'd turned into his embrace, her hands spread wide on his chest as she tried to get her bearings. "Sorry," she whispered. She huffed. "Sorry. I don't…" She swallowed hard, shame beginning to creep in around the subsiding panic. "I don't know what the hell just happened."

"It's creepy as hell down here; that's what happened. Jesus Christ."

Bella raised her head. "What the actual fuck?" The sub was dark, glowing red in some places with lights flashing in others. There were strange noises, including voices, in the distance. She had to look above them to where the sun was still shining brightly to assure herself she hadn't actually set foot into a nightmare scenario. Her hands fell to Edward's waist and she gripped him to her tighter. "What the fresh hell is this?"

Edward, peering over her shoulder, scoffed. "It's a living exhibit. It's a recording meant to simulate something that actually happened on this sub."

"Oh, hell. That's Russian. They're speaking Russian. That's extra levels of creepy." Bella tore her eyes away from the red lights and looked at Edward.

"So...let's get out of here?"

"Yes, please."

They both scrambled as fast as they could back up the ladder. The fact that Edward went up behind her kept Bella from imagining she was being chased, but she was still shaky when she emerged. The instant that Edward joined her, she grabbed his hand, and they hauled ass back to the dock.

There, they looked at each other. They were both flushed and slightly out of breath both from the exertion and the adrenaline. Now that they were back in the sunshine, their flight felt kind of ridiculous. Bella couldn't keep a giggle from escaping, but the second it did, she and Edward were both laughing.

"So. How about that San Salvador?" Edward said.

"Gee, why didn't I think about that?"

 _ **~0~**_

As it got toward evening, Edward and Bella opted for the optional harbor cruise. Since they both knew the sights of the bay, they weren't listening to the narration, but enjoying being out on the water.

They sat with their heads bent together so they could talk quietly and not disturb the tourists who might actually be interested in the guide's speech.

"So, what's your Disney Bucket list?" Bella asked.

"Oh, wow. Let's see. I want to see the little boy ghost on Haunted Mansion."

She gave him a dubious look. "You really think some mom dumped her kid's ashes there?"

"You really think it hasn't happened?"

Bella made a face.

Edward nodded. "Your turn."

"Club 33."

Edward shook his head. "Doesn't count."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because that's on every Disney fanatic's list."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Fine." Her hair kept whipping into her face. She couldn't seem to get it tucked back right.

Edward reached out, his fingers in her hair, helping her. She froze at the jolt that went through her. When had his face gotten so close?

They stared for one, two, three pregnant heartbeats, and Bella's mouth went dry. "Um. Swing dancing."

"What?" He blinked.

"My bucket list," she said, trying to remember what they were talking about. "Did you know they have swing dancing right by that place where you see all the princesses between Fantasyland and Frontierland?"

"The Royal Theater at the Fantasy Faire. I know it."

"Always wanted to do it." She shrugged. "But I can't swing dance."

His grin was blinding. "I know someone who can."

* * *

 **A/N: True story. The day I went aboard the sub I'm writing about, I was absolutely alone. My mom's knees were too bad to climb down, and it was a weekday, so no one was there. I climb down, and everything is dark and RED and there are voices speaking in Russian (with a crackle like over the radio).**

 **I mean… I still explored it, but I kept thinking skeleton hands were going to reach out from the bottom and grab me. YIKES.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Some of you asked what Club 33 is. It's a "secret" club in Disneyland (In New Orleans Square). There's something like a ten year waiting list to get a membership. Basically, you have to know a guy who knows a guy. Super fancy. Legit. They got my purse a stool when I made a move to set it on the floor.**

* * *

Edward was home, working on a report on his computer, when a message popped up in the corner of the screen. He smiled when he saw Bella's Facebook photo flash briefly before it faded. He alt tabbed over, and brought up Facebook.

Bella: You never told me your Disney bucket list.

Edward: Chaos and destruction.

Bella: You want you translate that for me?

Edward: There are several rides I want to be on when they break down.

Bella: You mean like…

Rather than another text message, a picture popped up and then another and another. "You lucky…"

Space Mountain, Disney's roller coaster that ran in the pitch black of "space," was actually located inside a building. He knew that. He also knew the coaster wasn't nearly as fast as he felt it was. Disney used the dark and air blowing through tightly packed quarters to simulate speed. He knew that, and he'd seen the photos online. But he wanted to see it with his own eyes. Bella, apparently, had been on Space Mountain when it broke down, hence the pictures.

Edward: I'm disowning you as a friend.

Bella: Hey, there's still the holy land. Haven't you ever wondered what Pirates looks like with the lights on?

Pirates of the Caribbean was the ride the popular movie franchise was based off of. The ride went underground through rooms set up to look like ports full of pirates as the rider's boat glided by. The ride was dark, but not the same way Space Mountain was.

Edward: That's not the what-if game I play with that ride. The question you want to ask yourself is not what if we break down. That's a boring question because, more likely than not, the lights aren't coming up. More often than not, all that happens is you're stuck listening to the same short stanza, a piece of the song over and over and over. Nope. There's a more exciting game. It's called "What would happen if there's an earthquake right here, right now?" Especially when you're at that part where you're in the burning house and there are chairs dangling above your head.

Bella: … … …

Edward: And, you know, a piece of the Disney railroad passes right over you when you're in Pirates.

Bella: You absolute bastard.

Edward cackled to himself.

Edward: That's just ridiculous. My parents are still happily married and all us kids were born in wedlock. Emmett was a near thing, but I'm the youngest.

 **~0~**

Some days later, they were on their way to Disneyland together and still playing the earthquake game.

"The top of the fun wheel," Bella said of California Adventure's gigantic ferris wheel. "The rides have to be programmed to stop in the event of an earthquake. If you were at the very top…"

"In one of the swinging cars." Edward shuddered. "You're too good at this game."

"This isn't a game I want to win." Bella made a face. "I'm moving to Florida and taking my chances with Disney World."

"Oh, right. Because you can play the 'what would this all look like underwater' game instead. Flooding and hurricanes give the the heebies." Edward shook his head. "Earthquakes don't scare me much."

"Well, they didn't scare me until I thought about being underground on Pirates during one of them." She pulled a face, glaring at him.

Edward almost reached out to cup her cheek. It was such a natural impulse that it knocked the breath out of him. He gripped his hands tighter around the steering wheel and offered her only a smile, staring straight forward.

The problem with controlling his actions was that these outings felt like dates. He was attracted to this woman—that much he couldn't possibly deny. They were doing a lot of things Edward associated with dating. His body wanted to show it the way he was used to—touches, kisses. It was muscle memory. That was natural, right? He wasn't trying to be a creeper. He wasn't trying to pretend his friendship, all for the eventual aim of getting her into bed.

Just… he liked her. Could he help that? More importantly, would he be doing all these things if he wasn't attracted to her? He _liked_ her. Liked spending time with her. Liked her the way he liked his friends, but would he be doing all this for someone else? His friends had gone through breakups before, and yet he'd never suggested they go daytripping together. And so often. At this point, they were seeing each other every three to five days. Most of the time it was Edward who did the inviting.

They drove in silence for a time, Edward trying to go over the logistics of what was going on here. It was so easy to spend time with her. Natural. One minute they'd been chatting on Facebook about their Disney bucketlist, the next they were arranging to go together when they both had time off. And when he'd pulled up in front of her place, she'd bounded out with a big smile on her face, as though she was glad to see him.

Was he being _that guy_? He wanted to be her friend too. Just…

Well, whatever. He just had to remind himself that he couldn't touch her intimately, no matter how natural it might seem. She needed some space, and he was safe. She'd said that before. He hadn't known her as part of a couple. Her other friends _only_ knew her as half of one unit.

"Hey, what are you thinking about over there?" Bella asked, and Edward realized that it had been quiet for too long.

He straightened up and flashed her a smile. "Nothing really. Just driving."

"Sorry I'm not better company." She sighed and pulled her feet up on the seat, wrapping her arms around her knees. She rested her head on her knees, looking out the window. "I'm kind of nervous."

"About what?"

"My friends who have been through it before say the worst part about a breakup is all the triggers. Restaurants. Songs. You could be just fine and then you remember being here with _him_ _._ " She spat the last word but then sighed. "Disney's my happy place. I hope it's not ruined." She turned her head and offered him a sad smile. "I hope I'm not a killjoy."

Edward shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe it'll be like old school VCR's. We can rewrite your memories with different ones." Shit. That sounded romantic, didn't it?

Before he could backpedal, she laughed. "I bet I won't be able to watch World of Color without remembering your proposal."

At that, his smile was wry. "That's funny."

"What is?"

"Just the way it worked out. I planned it so Kate would remember that moment for the rest of our shared lives. In that way, I succeeded. It was just the wrong woman." Or the right one.

Edward gave his head a surreptitious shake. Maybe his sister was onto something with his falling too fast. "Not the wrong woman. You—"

"I know what you meant." She sighed. "It would have been a beautiful proposal."

He patted her knee absently and flashed her a smile. "You were there to overwrite the bad memory in progress," he reminded her. "Let's see what we can do about replacing your memories with new ones."

 _ **~Bella~**_

It had been another good day.

The nice thing about being a passholder in Disneyland was the lack of rushing. They didn't need to fill every moment of the day in order to get their money's worth. They'd waltzed into the park at two in the afternoon, strolled down Main Street, dodging the harried parents and the obnoxious teenagers. They ordered Starbucks as they perused the Disney app to see what the wait time on the rides was at.

"You know, the reason Space Mountain breaks down has to do with weight and speed," Edward said, pointing at the astronomical wait on the ride in question. "A cast member tries to get everyone loaded and the cars on their way faster, he's asking for a breakdown."

Bella quirked an eyebrow at him. "You asking to go on that ride?"

He shrugged. "Naw. I'd rather kick your ass on Buzz Lightyear."

"Oh. You're about to get your ass handed to you, Cullen."

The Astro Blaster ride was a shooting game where the riders hit targets as the space cruiser went through different rooms. Both of them being passholders, they knew the ins and outs—the hidden targets and the highest scoring ones. As such, it was a pretty close competition, but in the end, Bella won.

They both laughed when they got to the picture at the end of the ride. "We look so serious," Edward said. He was holding his blaster out, gripped in both hands.

"Defeating the evil Emperor Zurg is serious business."

After emailing the image to herself, Bella opened it up on her phone as they walked out of the inevitable after-ride shop. She was three steps into uploading the image to Facebook when she realized what she was doing. Sucking in a breath, she hurriedly stuffed the phone into her pocket.

"I'm going to hit up the Space Mountain bathroom, okay?" Edward said, thankfully not noticing her consternation.

"Sure."

She walked with him as far as the entrance and sat down on the available space, relieved to have him gone for a minute so she could have this internal conversation in relative privacy.

Fucking Facebook culture. Before all this crap with Jasper, Bella had a casual relationship with Facebook. She'd never been one to document her every move, but when she had a nice picture or thought to share, she never hesitated.

Lately, though, she'd become so aware of how many eyes were on her. She was on Facebook more than usual, and if she was honest with herself, she would acknowledge that she was trying to create a narrative. She had friends who'd remained friends with both her and Jasper. She had other friends who might have chosen her in the divorce but ran in the same circles as those who had given her the cold shoulder. It was paranoid to think anyone was talking about her, but if they were, she'd be damned if she let anyone believe this whole _thing_ with Jasper had destroyed her. She was devastated, but none of them, Jasper included, had to know that.

So, she took more pictures when she was out and about. She smiled at the camera, documented her goofier moments with friends. When she was having a good time, she let the world know.

Except when she was with Edward, which was ridiculous. She scolded herself internally. Edward was her friend. There was nothing wrong with spending time with her friend. Hell, even if he was more than her friend, who cared? She was young and free. But since when had that stopped anyone from being a judgmental asshole?

Bella knew damn well what this looked like. Her friends in San Diego had always thought she was crazy to have an annual pass when Disneyland was so far away. Two hours to stand in line for the same rides at a price point that was hovering dangerously close to a grand a year, gas not included? It only made sense to them because she spent so much time there with her man. They understood spending that much money on dates, but just because she loved Disney so much? They didn't buy that.

Between them associating Disneyland with her romantic life and the fact they didn't quite know what to think about the Facebook drama that had gone down regarding Edward and a proposal, Bella could guess what their commentary would be if they knew she was hanging out with Edward. She just didn't want to deal with it, that was all. The last thing she wanted to do was make it look like Peter had been right, that she'd had Edward waiting in the wings or that she'd rebounded in less than half an hour after Jasper broke up with her.

It didn't matter that it wasn't anyone's business what she did with her life; they'd still have something to say about it.

"Bella?"

Bella snapped her head up to find Edward standing over her, his eyebrows knitted in concern. "Are you okay? You look upset."

"Sorry." Bella got to her feet, taking a deep breath and exhaling. "Can we get a late lunch?"

He studied her, and for a moment, she was sure he was going to push. Instead, he nodded. "Sure. How do you feel about skewers at Bengal Barbecue?"

They ate, and when they were done, they got in line for the Jungle Cruise. The cheesy as hell puns always made Bella roll her eyes so hard she was surprised they didn't fall out. But Edward's low and continuous chuckle throughout the whole thing made her smile. He had a nice laugh.

When they got out of that ride, they lucked out. Apparently, Indiana Jones had been broken down for the last hour or so, and it opened again just as they were passing. They were able to cut right to the front of the line with a promised wait time of only five minutes.

"I was on the ride once when it kept breaking down," Bella said.

"This seems to be a pattern with you—breaking down major rides." Edward tilted his head and gave her a mock-stern look. "Are you sabotaging the rides, Bella?"

"As if." Bella snorted. "Look, I don't scare easily, okay? But we broke down in three downright creepy parts. We got caught on the bridge of all damn places, with the car rocking back and forth. And then again in the creepy as fuck dark tunnel with the creepier music. And then again right under the gigantic ball that looked like it was going to come crashing down on our heads for two or three full minutes."

"Speaking of places I wouldn't want to be when an earthquake strikes," Edward muttered.

Bella stopped short just as she was about to get on the ride. "Maybe we should go on the Teacups. They're on the ground with no gigantic balls hovering above them."

Edward laughed, boarding the ride ahead of her and offering his hand. "Don't worry, General. I'm sure Disney kept earthquakes in mind when they built their theme park in California. It would be horrible press if they allowed one of their guests to be teabagged to death."

Laughing, she put her hand in his, letting him pull her onto the ride.

 _ **~Edward~**_

Evening had fallen by the time Edward and Bella found themselves leaving Frontierland via the little walkway that took them to the Fantasy Faire area. Edward elbowed her lightly to catch her attention and pointed at a wanted poster of Flynn Ryder. "What do you think?" He made the same smoldering grin that Flynn had in the drawing.

It was probably a trick of the light, but he could have sworn Bella's eyes went dark for a heartbeat. She laughed, the sound strangled somehow, but smiled at him. "You better put that mug away before I'm tempted to try to collect reward money."

They continued on, and he watched as her eyes darted up to where Figaro the cat from Pinocchio sat perched on a windowsill. Her whole face lit up when she saw they'd caught him just as he moved. It was a discreet animatronic; one of the tiny bits of Disneyland magic he'd always appreciated.

Bella grabbed his hand, tugging it and pointing to make sure he'd seen it. They watched for a handful of seconds as Figaro lifted his head, blinked sleepily at the bird in the cage next to him, did that head tilt that cats did, and then, with a yawn, put his head back on his paws, going back to animatronic sleep.

Bella still hadn't let go of his hand.

She sighed contentedly and turned to keep moving. Only after they'd taken two steps did her hand fall from his as they came around to the bustling Royal Theater. It was alight with activity, lively music coming from the band as swing dancers twirled out on the floor.

Edward followed Bella so they were standing outside the little venue, out of traffic but not yet inside. He watched her watch the dancers. She had such a wistful smile on her face that he couldn't help but reach down and squeeze her hand. "It'll be you before you know it," he said.

"Oh, sure," she said with a scoff. "Come on. I suck, and you know it."

Whenever they'd met up since she'd told him she wanted to dance here one day, he'd been teaching her the beginning swing moves. She wasn't the most coordinated person in the world; it was true, but he was also very stubborn. "I told you. It'll just take practice. Here." He reached for her.

She pulled back, her eyes gone wide. "What? Here?"

He grinned. "Why not here?"

"With all of them dancing like that in there, you want me to practice here?" She looked skeptical, but she didn't pull away when he took her hands.

"Maybe it's better if you hear the music. Just the simple steps. Remember? Walk it to the beat." He started to walk in place to the rhythm of the music, holding her hands loosely to lead her.

She still looked dubious, but started to walk with him, facing him, looking down at her feet as she did. "Feel the music?" he asked. She only huffed in response, but her hips had begun to sway just a little bit.

"Good," he said. "Now, touch-step." He swung his foot out to the right, touching his toe off to the side before returning it back to place. "Touch-step right." He repeated the move. This time she did it with him. "Touch-step left." He let her feel the gentle tug at her hands as he said the words so she'd get used to following where he led. "Touch-step back. Touch-step forward." He repeated it one more time before he said. "Now, look at me." Her eyes darted up from her own feet to meet his. "Listen to me. Feel the way my body leans. Touch-step left. Touch-step right. Touch-step back. Touch-step forward."

Even as he said the words, moved his body and hers in time with them, a strange feeling came over him. Even in the low light of the evening, he could see her cheeks were flushed. Not from exertion. No. There was an energy between them that loomed large. It pressed down on his lungs, and he felt the heat rise in his face. "That's good," he said, his gaze frozen on her wide, beautiful eyes. Her lips looked so full and inviting, parted slightly as they were. "That's really good." His voice had gone husky.

"Hey, there."

Both of them jumped at the sound of an amused voice. Bella's hands dropped from his, and they took a step back in opposite direction.

A woman was staring at them. She looked to be their age—a pretty brunette with a nice smile. She was dressed for a swing dance, complete with a big flower hairclip at the side of her head and a twirly skirt. "Don't be shy. You don't have to stay out there. Come join us."

"Oh, no." Bella rubbed the back of her neck, looking more flustered than Edward had ever seen her. "No, no." She laughed, the sound slightly maniacal. "I can't dance."

The woman gave her a once over, but smiled reassuringly. "It's mostly about having fun, right?" Her eyes went to Edward, her gaze assessing. "You can dance, can't you?"

"Er." Edward glanced at Bella.

Here was the thing. He'd told Bella he knew the basics of swing dancing. Enough to help her out, he'd said. What he hadn't told her was that he was better than good. He was _really_ good. And, he was a natural show off.

So, when their conversation led to the woman—who'd introduced herself as Heidi—asking Edward if he'd care to dance with her, he couldn't help himself.

"Just one dance," Heidi said, her eyes pleading. She'd told them how her usual partner had ditched her at the last minute and, though this was a casual group, she'd been the odd man out for five dances now. "For fun."

Edward looked to Bella. "You want to see me make a spectacle of myself?" he asked, rolling his eyes a bit so she would think he expected to make a fool of himself.

For some reason, she looked a little queasy. But that must have been his imagination. She swallowed and smiled at him. "Better you than me." She crossed her arms over her chest, following Heidi to a space right off the dance floor where she could watch unobtrusively.

Heidi gave a squeak of pleasure. "Thanks, stranger. You're saving my night. I've been dying to dance."

"Hey." Edward tilted his head near Heidi's ear as they made their way to the center of the dance floor. "I'm trying to impress my friend over there. How good are you at this?"

Heidi pulled back, a delighted grin on her face. "Whatever you got, I can handle."

So, they danced. He tested out some more intermediate moves first. Easy pivots, spins, and an underarm turn to a spin out. When Heidi followed with ease, he moved into more complicated moves.

He was on fire, and he knew it.

They ended the song with a flourish, and Edward pulled Heidi back in so that she finished with her back to his chest, his arm around her. They were both breathless. They looked at each other and laughed with the exhilaration.

Then, Heidi glanced toward the edge of the dance floor and her face fell. "Uh oh." She quickly disentangled herself from his hold. "I think you're in trouble."

He followed her gaze and a lump rose to his throat. As he'd intended, Bella was staring right at them, but she wasn't impressed. No. The look on her face and her body language was anything but impressed.

She was pissed.

* * *

 **A/N: *innocent whistles***


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Oh, man. I'm watching Supernatural as we speak, and I'm DYING.**

 **How are you?**

* * *

"Bella—"

"I'm fine. It's fine." This was the fifth time she'd said that since they walked away from the Royal Faire. With a huff, she veered off to the side of the path, letting the masses pass them by. She knew she was acting weird. Clearly, she wasn't going to be able to pretend nothing had happened. She made an effort to put an easy smile on her face. "Seriously. I just got jealous."

A chill went down her spine, and she looked at a random spot just over his shoulder. She'd been trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with her. There the truth went, slipping out before she'd had a chance to think about it.

She'd hated the sight of him with his arms wrapped around Heidi. She'd hated the way he grinned at her. She'd hated how clear it was that he was sharing that moment with her. It didn't make a single bit of sense, but it was how she felt.

"You were jealous?"

Her heart had picked up a sporadic rhythm and she'd broken out in a cold sweat. "Uh. Yeah, I mean…" She shifted her feet and rubbed the back of her neck. She laughed. The sound was thin. "I got intimidated." Now, she was finally able to meet his eyes for a few seconds. "You didn't tell me you could have been on Dancing with the Stars."

"Well, I couldn't. Because I'm not a star," he teased gently.

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You're really good. I mean, really good."

"Yeah, but I wasn't trying to intimidate you." He shrugged, looking sheepish. "I was showing off, which my sister is forever telling me is really obnoxious."

Bella shook her head. "No, it was great." It had been, too. At first, she'd been watching Edward and Heidi with eyes so wide they'd just about popped out of her head. For most of it, she'd been grinning like crazy. "It was just a silly moment of self-consciousness."

"You've got nothing to be self-conscious about," he said, touching her elbow briefly.

"I know." She rolled her shoulders, feeling ridiculous all the way around. "I just had a moment. You know, one of those times when I realize the day I met you, I got to see the lengths you went to for someone you love. And then I got to see you at your _second_ job, trying to keep people safe. You've been trying to teach me to dance when all the while you're some kind of prodigy."

"Not a prodigy."

"Close enough."

He touched her arm again, and Bella's breath caught in her throat as a thrill went through her. What in the hell? "Are you sure everything's okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I was just being dumb," she told both of them.

Edward eyed her, as though he wasn't quite ready to let it go. Then, he nodded. "We have fast passes," he said.

"Big Thunder. Right." Bella brightened at that. Big Thunder Railroad—a railroad themed roller coaster—was one of her favorite rides in the park, and she told Edward so. "It used to be Matterhorn, but then they upgraded the Yeti." She shuddered. The Matterhorn was the park's tallest ride—the iconic mountain covered in snow where Tinkerbell started her "flight" during the fireworks show. It was another roller coaster ride, this one plagued by an abominable snow beast.

Edward snickered. "Are you saying you're scared of an animatronic Disney monster?"

"It's ugly, and it pops out at me." She glanced at him out of the side of her eyes and made a face. "What? Shut up."

"No, I get it. Traveling at relatively high rates of speed on a jerking bobsled through the semi-darkness with a monster roaring in your ear." He leaned down, making a low rumbling sound near her ear.

Bella shuddered, pulling away from him, though not for the reason he thought. That growl had vibrated beneath her skin, and she was only too aware of how close he'd been standing to her.

His chuckle turned into a wistful sigh. "I miss the seats. Remember? How you used to have to sit with your friend or your date in your lap?"

Bella didn't answer that one. She had a sudden image of sitting between his spread legs and his arms wrapping around her. She had a feeling she wouldn't have been so scared of the horrible yeti if the ride still had those seats.

"Do you have a secret?"

Bella started. "Wait. What?"

"I said, do you know any Disney secrets?"

"Oh." She laughed because she was being deranged. "Like what?"

"Let's see. Hmm." They stopped long enough to flash their passes in the fast pass line and continued down the queue, walking past all the poor suckers in the normal line. "Did you know there's a basketball court at the top of the Matterhorn?"

That broke the weird tension that had popped up around them. They spent the short stay in line—fast passes rocked socks—trying to outdo each other in secret Disney knowledge. Then, they argued about the best seat in the roller coaster rides. Bella was relieved. It was usually so easy to be around Edward. She was glad to see the stupid jealousy hadn't messed things up.

At least, she thought it hadn't. She thought that until they were sitting in their seats, and her whole side—the side so close to him—tingled. She flexed her fingers, gripping the safety bar in a tight hold because she had the strangest urge to grab his hand.

What in the ever loving hell was wrong with her?

"Are you okay?" Edward asked, looking bemused. "I thought you said you weren't scared of this one."

"I'm not," Bella snapped, defensive for no reason. She huffed out a breath, exasperated with herself.

A boom made her jump, and they both looked over in time to see a brilliant burst of red light up behind the Matterhorn. The fireworks show had started. Edward leaned forward a bit, right into her bubble space, and breathed a sigh near her ear. "Oh, wow," he said. "That's awesome."

It was. It was beautiful. The night was clear, the moon bright, and the fireworks over the fake-mountain made for a pretty picture. But that wasn't why her heart was pounding. That wasn't why her lips were pursed in an oh and chills chased down her spine.

She only needed eyes to know that Edward Cullen was attractive. Why the hell was she so _aware_ of him right now?

The ride jerked to a start then, making her gasp. She'd totally missed the preamble—the warning to keep her arms and legs inside the cart and to enjoy "the wildest ride in the wilderness!" The fireworks cracked, adding to her startlement, and she gave a short shriek.

Beside her, Edward laughed and gave a whoop. Bella tried to catch her breath as they started the climb inside the faux-mine shaft. Edward leaned down. "Look. Hidden castle." He pointed to the rock formation above their heads, surreptitiously cut to look like the iconic Sleeping Beauty's castle.

"I knew that one," she said, sounding breathless to her own ears.

He needed to stop rumbling things in her ear. Christ, her nipples were hard. What the hell?

She didn't have time to think about it before the train was hurtling forward. Bella had never really thought about just how jerky a ride this was. Not until she was being slammed into Edward repeatedly. The train went around another bend, and Edward was thrown against her, squashing her body between him and the side of the car. All of it set to the steady cracks and booms of the fireworks going off in the background.

By the time they got off the ride, Bella was surprised her hair wasn't standing on end with all the static electricity racing through her. Why was this happening so suddenly?

Not so suddenly, a tiny voice in her head whispered.

She'd felt the thrill of his touch as far back as that day at the Coronado, when he'd taken her in his arms and danced to the music. At the time, she'd attributed the contented, giddy pleasure that had raced through her to the general atmosphere. It was a wedding, after all, and the music was romantic.

And his eyes had been so beautiful—a brilliant green to compliment his soft, gorgeous smile.

And she liked being around him. With him.

"Bella—"

"I'm sorry," she said, knowing she was being quiet and weird.

"No, I get it."

Her step faltered. "You do?"

He shrugged. "Sure." He gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know the whole idea of all this was to replace some memories, but you have nine years of them." He huffed, looking around. "It's happened to me a few times today that I almost asked you if you remembered something and I realized it wasn't you; it was Kate."

Bella was quiet at that. Stunned.

She hadn't really been thinking about Jasper, but that would explain the guilt that was twisting her stomach in knots. That was annoying. And confusing.

It took her a few too many seconds to realize she'd gone silent again. "That's not why we're here," she said. "I mean, I guess it's part of why we're here. I don't want to lose this place because of him. But this is about us too. Our relationship. I mean…" Her face flushed hot. Why did she feel like a fumbling teenager? "Our friendship. Hanging out with you."

He flashed a grin, a huge one with teeth. "You mean you aren't using me for my body?"

"Hah." The sound came out a little more choked than she wanted. "What are you even talking about?"

"I mean, if you came here alone you'd just be sitting next to a stranger." He winked, and there was no good reason that should make her press her tongue to the roof of her mouth. "What did you think I was talking about?"

Rather than answer, Bella rolled her eyes.

"You want to start making our way out?" Edward asked.

"You mean in the insane mob that is Main Street after the fireworks show? Where two-thirds of the park decides they're the only ones who have the idea to leave and what you have is a mass of bodies pushing and shoving, with stroller wheels nipping at your ankles? Sure, that sounds like a good plan."

"You're mocking me, aren't you?"

Bella smiled sweetly. "Would I do that?"

 _ **~0~**_

The drive back down to San Diego was pleasant despite Bella's preoccupation with whatever was going on with her skin. It seemed to be in a constant state of flushing hot or tingling, especially when Edward got anywhere near her. Or when he smiled. Or when he talked about...well...anything. He was always so easy to talk to.

They were getting close to the city when his phone started to buzz. He ignored it at first, but then frowned when it was clear the caller wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"You want me to see who it is?" Bella asked.

"Would you?"

Bella picked up his phone and read off the person who'd called three times now. "Benjamin Touma."

Edward scrunched up his face. "Shit. If he's calling right now, this can't be good. It's work related." He glanced around outside the windshield.

At this point on the 5 freeway, there weren't many places to pull off the road. There were no towns. There was Camp Pendleton base coming up soonish and the nuclear power plant, but other than that, there was nothing but hills and ocean.

"The viewpoint is coming up if you need to pull over," Bella said.

Edward made another face as the phone rang yet again, and he nodded. "Good call."

When the viewpoint came up in another mile, Edward pulled off and parked. He made a grab for the phone and flashed her an apologetic smile. "This won't take long. Sorry."

"Hey, I'm in no rush."

He connected the call then and started talking. Even though it was clearly business related, Bella felt strange eavesdropping. Besides, the tenor of his conversation didn't mesh well with the haze of her thoughts, or lack thereof. Truthfully, she'd been doing her best not to think. She wasn't at all sure she wanted to know what she was thinking.

Bella got out of the car and headed toward the edge of the pavement. It was late, well beyond sunset, but she could still see the line where the sand hit the ocean water. She saw the lights of the working ships out on the water, and a sense of calm that had eluded her all evening settled over her.

She was most at peace on the ocean. Or near it, she supposed. Across the distance, she could only hear the sounds of the highway behind her, but her memories conjured the steady crash of the waves against the beach. She breathed in deeply, raising her head as the cold sea breeze kissed her cheeks. She shivered.

"Yeah, I'll bet." Edward's voice behind her alerted her to his presence. He sounded annoyed, but not with her, of course. He stepped up behind her. "We gave him the report months ago. It's been almost a year, and he couldn't listen to us then. Now, when it's all falling apart, he's going to listen?"

She closed her eyes, shivering again as the sound of his voice rolled over her, through her. She'd stopped questioning by then why his voice seemed to resonate in her blood.

Her eyes opened again when she felt the weight of fabric on her shoulders. The chill of the evening lessened, and she looked behind her. Edward's face, locked in an irritated grimace at whatever was going on on the phone, smoothed out into a smile when he saw her. He cut a handsome picture—hair tousling in the wind and that smile on his face. He winked and stepped away, heading back to the car.

He'd only gotten out to drape something over her shoulders, she realized. A letterman's jacket to be precise, the colors faded and well-worn. She almost snorted. She could imagine him being captain of the whatever sports team. Hell, he'd probably been prom king too. She pulled the jacket tighter around her, both amused and stupidly smug about the imagery. There was some kind of poetry there.

Really? Was she about to get all tied up in symbology so old it had been featured on Happy Days? What was that, the seventies? Two decades before she was even born. And when had she become the wistful romantic?

And why in all hells was any part of her brain, however warped, even going there?

She looked back out at the ocean, snuggling deeper into his jacket, and let her thoughts drift away again. She imagined how cold the water would be, and what it looked like when the tide pulled out around the cliffs.

When he came back, she felt his presence before she heard him. Warmth spread through her. A different kind of warmth than the jacket provided, and her skin hummed—a vibration just beneath the surface.

"Hey," he said, coming up beside her. "Sorry about that."

"It's no problem," Bella said, still facing forward. "Duty calls and all that. Everything okay?"

"Naw. It's all going to crash and burn," he said easily. "But it'll keep until tomorrow now."

"Good." She probably should have moved, turned around to get back in the car, but the moment seemed big somehow. Too big. Pregnant with possibility and want she hadn't found the words in her head to articulate.

Beside her, Edward sighed. "Nights like tonight, when it's so clear, it would be great to have a job out on one of those ships." He tilted his chin at the distant ships on the horizon. "Hard work, but can you imagine? Taking one minute to look out. Do you ever think about how the view across the water, when you have your back to land, is exactly the same view as the dinosaurs saw?"

Bella would never know why that was the moment. Maybe it was just the wistfulness in his voice. She thought about the ocean too like that, how it was one of the most unchanged vistas. Unclaimable.

Or maybe it had nothing to do with his words. Maybe it was always going to happen, even if it hadn't been tonight.

Bella didn't know. She wasn't thinking. She took his hand, and when he turned toward her with questions in his eyes, she surged forward like a wave, pushing onto the balls of her feet as she kissed him. It was hardly more than a brush at first. He gasped. She sucked in a breath. Time stood still.

Then, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he hooked an arm around her waist, his hand spread across her back as he pulled her up against him. They kissed again, noses tapping each other before they tilted their heads together. He sighed against her lips and she breathed him in. And they kissed again.

And again.

And again.

* * *

 **A/N: THE END.**

 **Just kidding. Hehehhe.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Oh, okay. I guess I'll give you more fic. Hehe.**

* * *

They hadn't really spoken the rest of the way home, but Bella held his hand, playing with his fingers as they drove. He wasn't sure what was about to happen or if he should speak. It didn't seem like a good idea. Bella's head was turned away from him, staring out the window, but she hadn't stopped touching him since they got back in the car.

She also hadn't taken off his jacket.

Pulling up in front of her place some time later, Edward unbuckled his seatbelt and went to get out of the car when Bella finally spoke. "Don't walk me to the door."

For a beat or two, Edward didn't move. Then, he sat back in his seat and looked over at her. She wasn't looking at him, but she also hadn't moved to get out of the car either. Her head was tilted back, staring up with a blank look. "Why?" he asked.

She took a deep breath and let it out again. "Because if you walk to the door, I'm going to kiss you again."

"That...doesn't sound like something I want to avoid," Edward said carefully.

The corner of her mouth quirked up, and she reached for his hand again. This time, instead of playing with his fingers, she twined them with hers. "If I kiss you again, I'm going to ask you to come inside."

Edward's cock twitched in his pants. That also didn't sound like something he wanted to avoid, but he didn't say that out loud. He had to think a minute before he said something like that.

Bella continued, "The problem is I'm not sure of the words that will come out of my mouth. I'm afraid I'm going to say something like, I'm single. You're single. We're both ridiculously attractive, and people tell me rebound sex is just what the doctor ordered."

"I've heard that one," Edward murmured.

"And it's not that I have an issue with casual sex in general." She grimaced. "Though, the fact that Jasper listed casual sex as a potential highlight of us breaking up makes me want to be anti-it on principle alone. Which, by the way, is part of what makes option one so fucking confusing."

"Okay. There's another option?"

Bella worried her lip between her teeth, her fingers flexing around his. "I might say something like...I'm falling for you." Her voice was scratchy, almost a whisper. "And that's really fucking confusing too."

Edward was quiet at that. His heart was beating too fast, and there was a lump in his throat that, thankfully, stopped him from speaking.

"So, I really need you not to come to the door," Bella said. "Because the only thing I know is that I want to do more than kiss you. I just need to figure out why."

There was a lot Edward could have said at that point. He could be charming. He could press—because, damn, a kiss and whatever came with it sounded like everything he wanted. But, he'd been actively trying not to look at her with those eyes; to be a friend without the creepy expectation that, one day, they would be more.

"I get you," he said.

She laughed and looked to him with a grin. "Well, hell, Edward. If you get it, will you explain it to me? I just got done telling you I'm a confused mess."

His cheeks flushed. "I meant, I understand—"

"I know what you meant." Her eyes were soft, fond as she looked him up and down. She reached over with her free hand and cupped his cheek, taking a deep breath before she spoke again. "You're important to me, but I was with the same guy for almost all of my adult life. Up until a few weeks ago, I would have told you I knew for sure what my love life would look like until death do us part." She smiled wryly, shaking her head.

"I get you," he said again, brushing his fingers through her hair. "And I'll be here when you figure it all out."

 _ **~0~**_

For five days, Edward played it cool.

Well, if cool included stalking Bella's social media pages. Which, could it really be considered stalking when they were friends? That was the point of social media—for your friends to know what you're doing or thinking about when you choose to let them know.

That thought was of some comfort to Edward as he tried to figure out what Bella was thinking through her status updates alone. He almost hoped she would vague-post—make a post that was so vague as to be infuriating to everyone on her friends list except the people who knew exactly what she was talking about.

What would that look like, he mused?

 _No wrong choice?_

 _Just flip a coin?_

 _Either answer would be okay._

 _I like muffins. Stud muffins._

 _EAC+BMS =5eva_

Laughing at his own ridiculousness, Edward ran a hand over his eyes. He saw Bella's name lurking toward the top of his chat. His fingers itched.

Did he have to give her space? She hadn't asked for space. She'd only asked him not to walk her to her door. There was no reason he couldn't talk to her. He'd had no problem before.

Who was he kidding? He could feel the awkwardness in the air between them, across the city from her. The first couple of days, he'd had a major work catastrophe to distract him. It didn't work all that well. There was a sense of anticipation that had him preoccupied.

He knew what he wanted, but he still wasn't sure if it was a good idea. He understood why Alice was concerned. Like most everyone, he'd watched friends make questionable romantic decisions that had been obvious recipes for disaster when he had the benefit of distance.

Sitting at his desk at work, he scrolled idly through Bella's Instagram page. She was no selfie queen. Most of her photos were random things that caught her eye, pictures of sea life and the beach. Most of the selfies she did have were her making funny faces with equally weird statues and standees. He recognized one statue of a bear holding a dinner tray with the word "Hungry" on it as being a random statue in Disneyland near the Honeybear Cafe in Critter Country.

Because he couldn't get enough Bella these days, he clicked to see Instagram photos she'd been tagged in. The very first one was from earlier that day. There was Bella, making a silly face and wielding a huge crab claw like a weapon as the co workers beside her pretended to cower in fear.

His chuckle died in his throat as something caught his eye. There was a jacket draped over the back of Bella's chair. His jacket. It had to be. Edward would recognize the logo of his high school in Alaska anywhere.

She was still wearing his old, worn, letterman jacket.

Edward rubbed a hand over his face, covering up the silly grin that overcame him. He sighed.

He couldn't pretend he had the benefit of distance. No amount of thinking about it was going to give him that perspective.

Edward tapped his foot, staring again at Bella's picture on Facebook messenger. He could charm her. Wrap her around his little finger. He was good at that, he'd been told, and he'd be good to her. Of course he would. He had good intentions.

Rather than click on messenger, he scrolled through the contacts on his phone and dialed. After three rings, the call connected.

There was a long beat. Then, "Edward?" asked an incredulous voice.

"Hey. I need a favor."

 _ **~0~**_

Edward arrived at the wine bar first and ordered a white for her, a red for him, the cheese plate, and the meats plate. He drummed his fingers on the tabletop, trying not to watch the door. Just chalk this up to another thing he wasn't sure he should be doing.

She arrived a few seconds after the wine did, and what anxiety Edward had immediately eased.

Nothing. There was no ache when he saw her. There was a bittersweet tug at his heart, but no pull toward her.

She spotted him and flashed a small smile, tossing her hair over her shoulder. There was caution in her cat-like eyes, but her gait was confident as she strode toward him.

"Kate," he greeted as she slid into the booth across from him.

"Edward." Her grin grew wider as she saw the wine. She lifted the glass and considered it a moment before she looked back at him. "You make a girl wonder, taking me to the place we had our first date."

He scoffed. "Our first date was an unmitigated disaster."

"Yes, but you were so endearing."

"I told you what this was," Edward said softly. "I chose this place so you would know I come in peace."

"Hmm." She took a sip, eyeing him over the rim of her glass. "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't, you know."

He shrugged. "I understand what you did as much as I'm going to." He swirled the wine around his glass, trying to find the right words. "I asked you here because I needed to talk to someone who knows me, knows how I am when I'm...interested in a woman, but isn't as protective as my sister."

Her face lit up. "Is this about whatever drama went down between you and some random chick a while back? On Facebook?"

"You heard about that?"

"Of course." She rolled her eyes. "Your ex gets engaged five minutes after you break his heart, and half your friends' list crawls out of the woodwork to make sure you know. Drama queens." She cocked her head, looking at him. "Are you going to tell me it was true?"

"No, but it is about the same woman."

Edward told Kate about Bella then. He told her about Alice's warning, and how he'd honestly tried to be just friends. Bella deserved that—a true friend who wasn't trying to be something more. But, he worried too because almost everything they'd done together, that he'd done for her, could be construed as romantic.

And honestly, he wasn't altogether sure that was an incorrect assessment. He had romantic feelings for Bella. He had almost from the beginning. He'd had every intention of being her friend—no strings or expectations or even hopes—but there was that saying about what the road to hell was paved from.

"Alice is right," Kate said. "This is quite possibly the worst timing ever. There's a high likelihood it'll all end in tears."

Edward's heart dropped to his feet.

"But who cares?" she asked before he could speak.

He blinked, looking at her. "What?"

"Life's a risk, babe. Why shouldn't love be?" Kate put her elbows on the table and leaned in, her eyes earnest as she met his gaze. "I don't know what you think about what I did to you or why I did it. I don't know if you'll believe me, but it was never about me not loving you. I did. I do love you. But love is just an element—one piece of a huge, complex whole. We're complicated—people are complicated, I mean. Beautiful, unique snowflakes."

"Right." Edward's tone was wry. There were a few sarcastic, possibly mean-spirited, things he could say just then, but he reminded himself he was the one who'd opened up this can of worms by inviting her here.

Her expression turned sheepish. "Give me a second to get this out. I promise it's relevant to what you're asking."

He gave her almost a minute as the waiter returned with their food. He watched, impatient, as she wrapped a thin slice of prosciutto around a bit of cheese. "You don't do anything halfway, Edward. When you decide something or someone is worth your time, you go all in, right then and right there. It's why you drove all the way to Southern California the minute, the very second, high school was over for you. You were so done with Alaska."

So done that he'd turned Kate down when she wanted to vacation there. He'd done it all—Denali, Glacier Bay, the Northern Lights. That was how she'd ended up going with her sisters.

And why she'd met Garrett.

"There's nothing inherently wrong with the way you are," Kate said, oblivious to his internal monologue. "I knew going in that it was one of your elements. You don't know how to play it cool."

"But you do." Edward couldn't quite take the bite out of his tone. "Cool and casual."

She winced. "I know how to play it casual, and I don't have a problem with casual. You do, and I knew that too." She shrugged. "I don't think about anything in terms of forever. I'm a day-by-day kind of woman. We've talked about this before. Neither of us has ever believed in the mysticism of a soul mate. One person for everyone my ass. That's a theory easily debunked by just looking around.

"Love is an emotion. If you feel it, it's true. Therefore, all love is true love. So what? In the scheme of things, it dictates nothing except that it demands to be felt." She pointed at him. "It's when you decide to do something about it that it's like Space Mountain."

In spite of his mild irritation, even anger, Edward quirked an eyebrow in amusement. "Space Mountain?"

"In theory. When you start something with someone, it's a ride in the dark. You don't see the twists and turns coming. It could be thrilling. Could be scary. Could make you sick. You don't know. And every ride ends eventually. Whether it ends because one of you dies or—"

"Because one of you meets a guy you want to fuck."

Kate ducked her head. "Okay. I deserved that." She peered at him. "You don't have to believe me, but I was all in too. The whole time. Up until Garrett happened, I was happy with you. We were never on fire, right? No great passion. Plenty of attraction, compatibility, love, but no consuming flame. Right?"

Edward grimaced, but he nodded. "Good and smooth."

"Great, even." Kate sighed. "We dated. We had a good time. We loved each other, and we liked each other. I wasn't unhappy. That wasn't why we ended, and it definitely isn't why I did what I did."

She waved a hand. "But let's not get into that right now except for me to say this. I regret hurting you. That was never what I aimed to do, and it's not what I wanted. But that being said, I don't regret that I had what I had with Garrett." Her eyes glassed over. "And that ended in tears. I don't know if that's a comfort to you."

Edward let out a long breath, deflating a bit. He couldn't say he felt terrible about that news, but he also didn't revel in it. "I've never seen the point of being the vindictive ex."

"Yeah," Kate said with a small smile. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "You're a better man than most. Don't think I don't appreciate what I lost. What I gave up willingly." She scoffed. "We had a good thing going, babe. And it could have been good for a long time.

"I guess that's what I'm trying to say. There's no such thing as perfect. Not in relationships and not in people. We all have one kind of ticking time bomb in ourselves, in our lives, or both. Love is one element. Or attraction. Possibility. Whatever it is for you and her right now. The fact she's not over her ex, that the timing is the absolute worst, is another element. It's a tick in the negative category. It's a problem. But again, so what?"

She reached out, and Edward stiffened when she grabbed his hand. She squeezed once and let him go. "Be smart. Keep your eyes open. But live your life, you know? It may not make you happy forever, but—"

"So what?" Edward picked up her refrain.

"Life is always going to hurt," Kate said, tilting back the last of her wine. "You may as well be outrageously happy as often as you can."

 _ **~0~**_

That night, hoping Bella was already asleep, Edward sent a message.

Edward: I'm going to be at the Cabrillio National Monument area tomorrow. If you have some time, come play with me at the tidepools. I'll be there at one sharp. No worries if not.

He pressed send and tried to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Let's play at the tidepools!**

 **Incidentally, if you want pictures of some of these things, I put them up in my group on Facebook. Come join the madness, if you'd like. The group is called Stories of LyricalKris (so original, I know).**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Daisy, Daisy give me your answer, do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you.**

* * *

What scared Bella the most was the timing.

She'd never believed in the existence of soulmates—that perfect other that was meant for her and only her. That was ridiculous. Too many variables. What if your soulmate was in a different country? Seventy years old when you were born? An African San Bushman? A child molester? If everyone had a perfect other, then the worst people in the world could be no exception.

And if your soulmate died, did that mean no other love could be acceptable? You couldn't find happiness with someone else or it would always be somehow less?

Again, bullshit. People loved and lost all the time, whether through death or circumstance.

So, no. Bella didn't believe in soulmates. None of the data at hand supported that conclusion.

A scientist at heart, Bella couldn't dismiss the idea that love struck when and as it pleased. It didn't have to make sense. It didn't have to be rational. It didn't care if you were ready or if you wanted it at all. It couldn't be defined. Some love came on slow—best friends who looked up one day and wanted more than they did the day before—or at first sight. Bella couldn't deny love in all its permutations existed.

Which raised an interesting, not terribly comfortable question for Bella. If she had met Edward when she was still with Jasper, what would have happened? It wasn't as though her heart was free when she met Edward. The love she shared with Jasper hadn't dissipated the instant he'd hurt her. It wasn't gone now. It still roiled and ached inside her, steeped in the grief of loss. She'd cultivated that love, nurtured it and fed it, for nine years. Not even the arrival of Edward Cullen could kill it.

The thoughts chased themselves round and round in Bella's head. She felt guilty that her growing feelings for Edward could exist around the love she had for Jasper. She was angry and uncertain and afraid to love again. She was irritated and hopeful and excited. She was once bitten, twice shy, and twitterpated and overeager all at once.

On the sixth sleepless night after she kissed him, her phone chimed. Bella leapt at it, and when she saw his invitation she couldn't stop her grin. Simultaneously, a thrill of pure panic raced down her spine.

She was out of time to obsess over the why's and how's. How had this happened, and what was she supposed to do about it? It didn't matter now. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen tomorrow.

 _ **~0~**_

Bella spent the next morning pretending she wasn't going to do what she was about to do. She had coffee and a bagel, all while adamantly ignoring the giddiness she felt bubbling under the surface. It was an absurd idea. Going to the tidepools. It was an obvious date, and there was no way any of this made sense.

She did a few chores around the house—if by chores one counted picking things up and putting them down. Was this what people meant by a rebound? It made a weird kind of sense. When Jasper had pulled his shit, she'd felt like a basketball hurled at a wall, ricocheting off and right into the presence of Edward of the matching shirt. No matter what else was going on between them, Edward was her friend and important to her. If she couldn't make good decisions for her own heart and happiness, she could care more about his.

At ten-thirty, Bella decided she should take a drive. Nowhere in particular. She needed to clear her head and then call Edward and tell him it was a bad idea to see him right now. She needed more time to figure out how to turn this off. The way she was feeling right now, there was no way she could pretend she only wanted to be his friend.

But, before she could get the gumption to call, she found herself at the pay booth. Rather than drive up toward the monument, she drove down toward the beach and the tide pools. She parked and asked herself what the hell she thought she was doing.

She hadn't texted him back. He'd assume she wasn't coming and not show up himself; no problem.

Getting out of the car, she hurried toward the oceanside, as though she could outrun the sense of disappointment that followed her at the thought. She wanted to see him. Six days was way too long to go without talking to him.

For two hours, she walked back and forth. The Cabrillo Monument tide pools existed along a stretch of beach carved into a tall hill. Bella wasn't sure what to call it. All she knew was the actual monument was high above, and the water had carved a set of short cliffs into the rock. There was a tiny beach accessible—hence the tide pool area—but, otherwise, dry land existed well above the crash of the waves below.

Was there such thing as a clean break? Maybe those relationships where love petered out leaving only fondness behind and nothing else. Where the couples divorced or broke up with a bittersweet smile. A round relationship—no edges, no jagged break.

Then again, the relationships that most people wanted, the ones that lasted forever, didn't break clean either, did they? Nothing could last forever. Bella wondered what hurt worse. The loss of a relationship due to death or intentional dismemberment?

The closer it got to one, the more her arguments tapered off, interrupted by a sense of anticipation. She wanted to see him.

Shit. What if he really wasn't coming?

Bella took out her phone and dialed. Or at least, she tried to. She navigated to Facebook messenger and tapped out a message. She got one back immediately, letting her know her message would be delivered when she was back within range of a service area.

"Shit," she muttered to herself, roaming back and forth along the beach, trying to find a bar or two.

"There's no reception here," said a harried looking woman with three children around her, splashing in the shallow water. "It cuts out until you're back on the main road."

Bella offered the woman a smile. "Thanks."

She pondered this problem, a tongue in her cheek as she watched the little ones scramble over the short rock cliffs. She could go back out to the road. It wasn't like it was a long walk. But hadn't she seen that plot in about a thousand movies? Edward said he'd be here at one on the dot, which meant he'd be out of cell range too. They'd end up missing each other with no way to get in contact.

So, she took a page from the book of her early childhood—before cell phones were in use by everyone—and sat down to wait. If she stayed in one place, he'd find her. She took off her shoes and let her legs dangle over the side of the rock, smiling at the feel of the waves coming up to splash her feet.

Bella felt him before she saw him. Her back was to the rest of the world, watching the waves and the sparkle across the water, mesmerized as she always was. There was so much activity around her, she didn't know how she discerned his step from all the others. She just knew he was coming, and when he came to stand at her side, she smiled before she could help it.

The ocean brought her peace. It always had. Edward made her happy.

Some things were what they were.

"Hey, you," Edward said as he sat beside her. "I was afraid you weren't going to come."

She scoffed but smiled, looking out at the water instead of him. "You're like the tide. I could try to swim out to sea, but you'd just bring me in again."

"And dash you against the rocks?" he asked, half teasing, half not.

Bella laughed and looked at him. "That's why you brought me out here, right? Some overarching metaphor about the pull of the sea and this." She gestured back and forth between them.

The corners of his mouth curved up. His hair tousled in the light breeze. He looked pleased, but his words were careful. "I really was working." He reached out, tentatively at first, and touched her hand. When she didn't pull away, he threaded his fingers through hers. "And I like the ocean. You like the ocean." He shrugged.

Bella closed her eyes briefly, revelling in the tingles that went through her at this simple yet intimate touch. She felt so ridiculously happy to be holding his hand. Like she was a teenager again. "Jasper didn't like the ocean," she mused, opening her eyes to study the way their hands looked, the way their fingers overlapped. "He could take it or leave it."

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Edward stiffen a bit. But, he released a breath, and his shoulders relaxed. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?"

"You said you were confused. I don't think what I did helped with that?" He ducked his head, bringing their joined hands closer so he could play with her fingers.

"What did you do?" she asked, still perplexed.

"I had good intentions," he said, looking up at her from underneath his lashes. Hell if that didn't make her heart skip a beat. He had such beautiful eyes. "I was really trying to be your friend, but I think I accidentally dated you."

Bella chuckled at that. She pushed her fingertips against his, like footsie for their hands. "It was my fault. You set up a romantic date for your girlfriend of three years that was supposed to end in a proposal—which is romance level 47—and I had the bright idea that I should go with you instead." She sighed. "We were doomed."

They were both quiet for a minute. Bella pressed her tongue into her cheek, trying to decide what she wanted to say. "So here's the thing. I think we should have sex."

She nearly choked on her own tongue. Edward made a surprised little noise. Bella winced. "That wasn't what I wanted to say," Bella said, her cheeks blazing. "Ugh. Let me… I mean, that's not a surprise, right? That I…"

Pulling her hands from his, she covered her face and groaned. "Jesus, I'm a mess." She let her hands drop to her lap and she looked at him. "Look, this whole accidental dating thing? I've liked it. A lot. I think we should keep doing that, but I also think we need to keep some facts in mind."

"Facts like?"

She hesitated a moment, gnawing the inside of her cheek. "I'm still in love with Jasper." She rolled her eyes heavenward, shaking her head. "It's just a fact. My heart is still broken, and there's all this...grief. Which, I don't know, maybe it doesn't have to mean anything. It hasn't stopped me from having feelings for you, but I can't pretend I'm over him. I'm not. I have no idea how that will affect anything we do, so we both have to be aware it exists.

"Bella."

She took a deep breath before she let her gaze drop back down to meet his. At the look on his face, the weight that had begun to clench at her heart loosened. He reached out, his touch tender as his fingertips skimmed her cheek. He cupped her face and tilted his head down to touch his lips to hers.

Bella whimpered, closing her eyes and leaning into his kiss. She spread her palm against his side, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath his shirt.

"Are there other facts?" Their lips were still connected, so the words vibrated against her skin when he spoke.

"What?" she asked, senseless from the heat of his kisses and the feel of his hands on her. He made her dizzy.

He brushed her hair back, pulling away from her enough that he could look in her eyes. "You said we have to keep some facts in mind. You have nine years of beautiful memories with a man you loved and trusted. Losing that is a trauma. I can't expect you to forget you were traumatized, and I can't expect your heart to forget that what you feel for him still exists. I get that." He kissed her again, sweetly. "So, what else?"

Her head swam. She darted her tongue out, tasting his lips once. She pulled back again and looked at him. "I think we should have sex."

He laughed. "That's a fact?"

"Yeah." She scooted closer to him, her hands looped around his back now, exploring what it felt like to touch him. "If we do what we've been doing? Dating, not accidentally this time, I mean. If we do that, I just think it's fair that you know." She licked her lips, looking into his eyes. "I'm pretty sure if we're ever alone together, not in public, I'm going to jump your bones."

His cheeks flushed pink, and he pressed his lips together either trying not to laugh or trying not to grin. He nodded slowly, and when he spoke again, his voice was husky. "That's uh… Well, thanks for the warning."

He cupped his hand around the back of her head then, bringing her to him for another kiss. This one wasn't so gentle. It was a hungry, happy kiss. She gripped the front of his shirt, twisting the fabric in her fingers as she moved with him.

The loud bark of a dog had them flying apart. Bella gasped, and then she gave a startled cry, clutching at Edward when she looked down and remembered there wasn't solid ground but roiling ocean a yard and change beneath her feet. His kisses had left her dizzy.

"I have you," Edward said, his arm secure around her.

She ducked her head against his chest and laughed. "Crap. I forgot other people existed for a second there."

"Me too." He rubbed her back and leaned in so his lips were near her ear. "Does that mean you thought you were alone with me?"

Her nipples tightened and she lifted her head to scrape her teeth along the underside of his chin. "I said not in public." She kissed him, soothing the spot she'd nipped at. "Although...sex on the beach. Let's put it on our to-do list. You know. For someday."

"I like the possibility of someday." He took her face between his hands, looking down on her, his thumbs stroking her cheeks. He kissed her once more with reverence, and sighed. "So, what's next?"

"Mmmm." Bella thought seriously about telling him she wasn't ready to stop kissing him. "Have you had lunch?"

To her surprise, Edward's grin turned sheepish. "About that." He scooted back, keeping a hand on her knee as he looked behind them.

Bella followed his gaze and laughed when she noticed for the first time a basket secure on the rocks. "Edward?"

"Yes?"

"You came here intending to apologize to me for accidentally dating me."

"Um. Yeah."

"So, you invited me to one of the prettiest places in San Diego and packed a picnic lunch."

He pressed his lips together, obviously fighting a smile. "That sounds romantic. I don't have a romantic bone in my body."

Bella groaned, burying her head in her hands. "Never had a chance," she muttered to herself.

* * *

 **A/N: Boop. Bop.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Big thanks to Amanda Herold without whom this chapter wouldn't exist. Visuals in my group on Facebook if you want to see the. Heheh.**

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When her alarm went off, Bella went through the usual wake-up haze. Her mind gained coherent thought in increments. What day was it? If the alarm was on, it meant she had work or class, right? It was Wednesday. Class, then.

What else? What was the last thing Jasper had said to her last night?

Nothing. Because he was gone. Because he'd left her. Because he'd decided overnight the life they'd had for the last nine years and the future they'd been working toward wasn't what he wanted after all. Her heart twisted. Her lungs seized. She sat up.

And as she did, she remembered whom she _had_ spoken to the night before. Edward. Her heart skipped a beat and picked up in double time as she fought a smile.

They'd both had work to do when they left the Cabrillo Tidepools. He'd walked with her, hand-in-hand, to her car and had kissed her for five whole minutes. Then, someone had cleared their throat and they'd looked up to find a half annoyed, mostly bemused guy not-so-patiently waiting to be able to get into the car next to hers.

Bella should have been mortified. Instead, she'd driven away on a cloud with a grin so broad it hurt her face. She was like Bambi and Flower, stumbling over her words, getting all dreamy. Or maybe Bugs Bunny, doing that red-in-the-face a-woo-gah thing with her heart threatening to pump out of her chest at the mere thought of him.

Yeah, she was ridiculous.

"I could do without the rollercoaster though," Bella muttered, rubbing her chest. She was pretty sure her heart remembering it was broken a split second before it took off for new heights probably wasn't healthy.

Bella sighed, throwing an arm over her eyes. Smiling was better than frowning, and that rush of sweet giddiness was way better than the twist-turn of her broken heart. If she could master remembering Edward and all the happy-happy, joy-joy feelings first instead of the heartache, she wouldn't complain about her own ridiculousness ever again.

Reaching out with the arm not flung over her eyes, Bella groped for her phone. When she found it, she brought her arm down so she could scroll through the previous evening's conversation.

Agreeing for the millionth time that they should try to talk themselves out of whatever they were doing here, they'd engaged in a competition, each of them trying to expose a deal breaker in the other. They'd stuck to the really important topics. Like Disney movies they hadn't seen.

Bella: You haven't seen The Fox and the Hound? Yeah, we're done.

Edward: Most people don't know this, but the art of being manly has more to do with avoiding situations that might bring on tears than it does actually not crying.

He'd pegged her when he asked about her favorite Disney Prince.

Edward: No. No, no, no. Thor doesn't count as a Disney Prince. You can't just name your favorite beefy hunk.

Bella: Beefy hunk? Sounds like something I'd find in stew. When I say I'd take a bite out of Chris Hemsworth, that's not what I'm talking about. Ew.

Edward: Cannibalism should be a deal breaker...

Bella: ANYWAY. It's not my fault that Marvel was eaten by Disney. If I was just going to choose an Avenger, you bet your sweet ass it'd be Captain America. But he's not a Prince. Thor Odinson is.

Edward: … do you really think I have a sweet ass?

He'd eventually conceded the point because it meant he could choose Leia as his favorite Disney Princess.

Bella read the last line over and over again.

Edward: Well, it's no use. We're just going to admit we're flawless human beings who like each other.

As she was staring at those words, goofy grin driving her crazy, a message flashed at the top of the screen—a Facebook alert. She brushed her thumb over the screen to check it. Just the daily birthday notification.

Then, she did a double take. She blinked. Read it again.

Yep. It said what she thought: Edward Cullen has a birthday today.

"Oh, I see how it is. Little rat. Thought you were going to get away with that one." Bella brought up messenger, prepared to offer to take him to dinner, but stopped, a half-cocked plan forming in her head.

Her cheeks flushed hot and her heart raced. What on Earth was she thinking? She couldn't do that.

Could she?

Edward had orchestrated so many nice days for her. That he hadn't been trying to be romantic had her wondering what Edward in full romance mode would look like. No doubt he'd be a force to be reckoned with. What if she could beat him to the punch?

Though she had to admit what she was considering wasn't romantic so much as it was sexy. Or stupid. Was it stupid?

Possibly it was stupid.

Well, she had all day to work up the courage. In the meantime, she put Alice's name into messenger and sent a quick text. In all likelihood, Edward already had plans with the only member of his family accessible to him.

~0~

Alice assured Bella she'd have her little brother home early. They had plans for dinner together, but that was all.

Alice: Do you know how dumb a Disney-holic sounds when he says he doesn't like crowds? So, early dinner it is!

Bella gave them until eight-thirty just to be safe. As she walked into his apartment complex, she clutched her trench coat in a death grip, cinching it closed. She ran her fingers through her hair, hoping it still hung long and wavy. She adjusted the overlarge flower clipped at the side of her head.

 _Last chance to come to your senses._

But, no. She wasn't going to chicken out. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door as though she was a woman who did this kind of thing all the time.

As the door came open, Bella put on her best come hither simper. It fell and she stumbled backward when a man who was somehow familiar but definitely not Edward opened the door. He was a giant of a man, tall and broad with a mess of curly hair and a wicked smile. "You're not a Jehovah's Witness."

"I, uh. What?" Bella took another step back, discombobulated. She held on to her coat for dear life.

The door came open wider, and Edward appeared beside Gigantor. Shock registered on his face. "Bella. Hey."

Gigantor's eyes lit up with what could only be described as glee. "Bella. Your fiancee." He gave Edward a healthy thwack on the back and extended his hand to Bella. "I'm Emmett, your future brother-in-law."

"Uh." Beyond flustered, Bella only looked at his hand. She had to convince herself she could safely let go of her coat with one hand long enough to shake. She tried not to cringe as she reached out for him, wishing she could come up with something cleverer than the shaky, "Hi?" she managed.

Emmett shook her hand vigorously then, to her horror, he pulled her into the apartment. "Hey, everyone. This is Edward's fiancee, Bella," he announced to the crowd that had appeared near the door.

Bella nearly swooned, she felt so lightheaded. Now that she had some context, she'd hung out on Edward's Facebook feed often enough that she knew too well the faces that swam in front of her. The older couple were Esme and Carlisle, Edward's parents. Carlisle's expression was one of patient perplexity while Esme, who had sent Bella a friend request after the proposal debacle that she now regretted accepting, wore a mischievous, delighted smile that matched her eldest son's. The statuesque, skeptical-looking blond bombshell was Emmett's wife Rosalie, and the passed out toddler in her arms was Henry.

Alice, of course, Bella had no problem recognizing. Her oh-shit expression matched the refrain in Bella's head.

Time blurred as everyone introduced themselves. Alice darted to her side, squeezing her arm. "The family surprised both of us. They didn't tell me either." Her eyes begged Bella to understand.

"We wanted it to be a secret." Carlisle ruffled his daughter's hair.

"I can keep a secret," Alice protested.

"Bella, you know it's summer, right?" Emmett tugged at Bella's coat sleeve. She flinched backward.

Edward smacked Emmett's hand. "Will you quit touching her?"

"Possessive much?"

"It's a warm night. Do you want me to take your coat?" Esme reached for her.

Bella skittered backward, out of reach. "No! I...um. I'm okay. I should go. Let you all...I should go."

"Oh, no. Don't." Esme looked so sincere as she smiled at Bella. "Come sit with us. We were just talking. Edward didn't tell us he was expecting anyone."

"He wasn't," Bella mumbled.

Emmett beamed. "Oh, reeeeaaalllly?"

Bella felt a hand on her back and stiffened until she realized it was Edward. "Can you guys excuse us a second?" he asked his family.

Without waiting for them to answer, he pressed his hand to the small of her back and led her down a short hallway to what could only be his bedroom. She couldn't tell for sure given that she couldn't bring herself to look up. She might have been paranoid, but she could swear she heard someone—Emmett, no doubt—guffawing as quietly as anyone could do that.

"I'm sorry. Holy hell, did that just happen? I'm sorry." She covered her flaming face with her hands, blushing so hard and hot she could have cooked an egg on her skin. "This is a damn disaster. What was I thinking?"

"Whatever you were thinking, it couldn't possibly be your fault." Edward took her by the shoulders, guiding her gently backward so she was sitting on the edge of his bed. "I didn't know my family was coming. How were you supposed to know?" He sat beside her and bumped her shoulder. " _I'm_ sorry. We aren't even defining this thing we have going, and you walked into an ambush. Meet the parents is a needy move. Plus, my brother is a jackass. He's enough to scare anyone away."

Bella exhaled in a gust, letting him bring her hands away from her face. "Under normal circumstances, I'd say I don't scare easy. Today, though…" She shook her head. "This was a bad idea."

"What idea was that?"

"Well, after I found out from Facebook that it's your birthday, I thought I'd surprise you. I guess I'm not the only one with bright ideas." She ducked her head, pulling her hands from his. "That's obnoxious anyway. If you'd wanted to see me, you'd have told me."

"Whoa. Hey." Edward took her hands again and tilted his head to catch her eyes. "I've been told before I don't know to play it cool. I already dated you when I was trying to be just a friend. I was trying to give you space. Let you lead." He brought her hands to his mouth and kissed her fingertips. "If it was up to me, Bella, I'd see you all the time. Of course I wanted to see you today. I'm glad you're here."

Her heartbeat did that delightful flutter she had yet to get used to, and she had to bite her lip to control her smile. "You might rethink that when you figure out I've put us both in an embarrassing situation."

"What do you mean?"

"Fuck," she muttered under her breath. She sighed and stood. After a couple of frozen moments, she rolled her eyes and held her coat open, giving Edward a good look at what she had on underneath.

His jaw dropped, and his eyes about popped out of his head. "Sweet mother of everything unholy."

Bella bit the inside of her cheek, flushing for a whole other reason than before as Edward swept his eyes up from her toes. "Happy birthday?" she asked, shy and amused and…

Yeah. Apparently, despite her utter and complete mortification, she was really hot and bothered for this guy. Her nipples went taut under his visceral gaze.

"Ffffuck me." His voice was a rasp.

"That was the original idea." She started to close her coat, but he leapt to his feet, grasping her wrists.

"Let me look at this, since I can't unwrap you." He moaned. "Ariel. You're supposed to be Ariel."

Bella was wearing almost nothing beneath the coat. She had on a deep purple, strapless bra—no lace, just solid color. Her thong was teal and doubled as a garter belt, holding up sheer thigh high stockings with ruffled teal tops.

Before she could answer—of course she was wearing Disney inspired lingerie—Edward attacked. He gripped her waist and took her lips with his. Hard. Demanding. He walked her backward until he had her pressed up against the wall. There, he kissed her relentlessly until she was gasping into his mouth.

"This… This is so not a good idea," she said between kisses. Despite her words, when he ducked his head to kiss her chin, she brought his face back up, claiming his lips as her own. "Really bad idea."

"I know." With a groan, he rested his forehead against hers. His fingers traced the skin of her upper legs. "There's something so deliciously filthy about this. Something about a mermaid fantasy I never knew I had." He cupped her ass.

She squeaked. "You know your whole family is not even twenty feet away right?"

"Give me one minute. I'm going to go tell them all to take a hike."

"Edward."

He grumbled, but took a large step back. When she finally closed her coat, he pouted. "Putting more clothes on you is the opposite of what I want right now, but can I interest you in a pair of skinny jeans and a Captain America shield shirt? Then, you're gonna have to give me a minute to think of...I don't know. Shriveled, spotted dick or something."

* * *

 **A/N: Incidentally, Ausha Pasha, for whom this story was written, has a lovely mermaid tale going on—The Siren's Curse. Just in case you want to indulge in a little Mermaid fantasy. Hehehe.**

 **Hey, guys. Send some extra hugs Packy's way today, yeah?**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I'm back. Thanks for your patience. Hopefully will have a little something for you on Christmas, but for now, I hope you enjoy the update.**

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When he was a boy, the lure of presents under the Christmas tree wasn't one Edward could resist. He was a meticulous child, and so he was patient and careful enough to take a razor blade to his parents' crisp, clean wrapping job. He unwrapped his gifts, peeked, and rewrapped them. His parents were never the wiser.

Of course, it was only shooting himself in the foot. For a week or two before Christmas, knowing what was under the tree, just out of reach, Edward almost died from the anticipation. That peek—the forbidden peek was lethal.

That was how Edward felt now as he opened his front door to find Bella standing on his stoop. His mouth went dry. She wasn't wearing anything remotely revealing, but he'd peeked, dammit. Now, all he could see was what she looked like wearing the lingerie she'd had on the day before. Just like his Christmases past, it would be awhile before he could unwrap that incredible gift.

As though she knew exactly what he was thinking, Bella's cheeks went pink. The air between them started to buzz and vibrate. Edward's fingers twitched, and it was all he could do not to wrap an arm around her waist to bring her crashing into him.

A looming presence came up behind him. "Oh, good." Emmett's booming voice made Edward jump, shattering the heated bubble. "Bella's here."

"Says who?" Bella quirked an eyebrow. "Good morning, Emmett."

"Good morning, Sis." He stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

"Emmett," Edward said with a sigh, watching as his elder brother put an arm around Bella.

But then, Emmett put his other arm around Edward and pulled them both in close. "Now, I wanted to talk to you two. Disneyland is a family park. We're bringing my precious, innocent, baby boy along with us, so you two are going to have to behave."

The night before, it hadn't gone unnoticed by Emmett that Bella had emerged from Edward's room wearing ill-fitting jeans and a t-shirt she hadn't had on when she went in. Edward was about ninety-eight percent certain everyone had noticed, but they had tact and Emmett didn't.

Edward gave his brother a mostly-playful shove. "If you can't stop being an ass, I'm not going to let you use my annual pass for discounts. Don't you know the dangers of bringing a very small child to Disneyland without a discount?"

"Pfft. I brought my mother. All I have to do is get Henry to pull out the puppy dog eyes. Mom will buckle in a heartbeat, and you'll buckle because you love your mother."

"It's a character flaw, I'll admit," Edward said.

The door behind them opened again and Rosalie was standing there. She looked at her husband and the two of them trapped in his hold and crossed her arms over her chest. "Is he being an ass?" she asked Bella.

"Nothing I can't handle," Bella said with a smile.

Emmett gasped, looking wide-eyed between Bella and his wife. "Babe. She said she was going to handle my ass."

Rosalie arched a cool eyebrow. Without a word, she reached out and took Edward's hand, pulling him out of Emmett's grasp. Then, she took Bella's hand and likewise pulled her away. She pushed the two of them together. "Problem solved." She turned to go back into the house. "Your brother has the better ass anyway."

"What the— Hey. Come back here." Emmett bolted after her, leaving a cackling Edward and Bella alone on the stoop.

Edward tilted his head, abruptly realizing he had Bella in his arms. He tightened a hand around her waist, pulling her just a little bit closer. "Hey."

A shy smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Hi." She tilted her chin up—a clear invitation if Edward ever saw one. He didn't have to be asked twice. He leaned in, bringing his other hand up to cup her cheek as he kissed her. It was a gentle kiss, but a thorough one.

It didn't escape Edward that if Bella had gotten her way last night, this would be the morning after. He groaned and pulled away from her kiss. He needed to not let his thoughts start down that path or there was no way he was going to be family friendly for an entire day.

He sighed and smiled, brushing a thumb over her lips as he looked down at her. "How did you let yourself get roped into this anyway?"

She rolled her eyes. "Your mother is devious. She looks innocent, but she talks fast."

Edward snorted. He made a mental note to tell Bella about his Christmas escapades. Maybe his mother wouldn't be so shocked to learn that he wasn't an angel. "We're a family full of brats, I suppose. Emmett's just the loudest about it."

"Your poor father."

"Hah. My father is more like Emmett, believe it or not. He's not sneaky, but he is a brat. He and Emmett are the worst when it comes to practical jokes. They'll go to incredible lengths."

Bella grimaced. "Something to look forward to, I guess."

Warmth spread through Edward at the idea she was planning to be around long enough to prank. He pressed his hand to the small of her back and let himself taste her sweet lips again. "I love going to Disneyland with you, Bella, but I know this is pretty intense. Don't let my mother sweet talk you into going with us if it's too much."

She took a deep breath and let it out again, her hands at his waist and her eyes serious on his. "It's a lot. I'm not saying it isn't." Her brow furrowed the slightest bit. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Well, I dropped by your house with not a lot of clothes on in front of your entire family." She seemed to go pale at the memory but persisted. "And now I'm horning in on your visit. You don't get to see your family often, and you seem to like them."

He gave a startled laugh. "Do you not like your family?"

"Sure. I like my family, but there's liking your family in that enjoy them twice a year kind of way and then there's you guys. It's like you're actually friends with them." She shrugged. "It's just a new experience for me."

"Hmm." He rubbed his hands up and down her back, considering what she'd told him about Jasper. His relationship with his parents had been estranged even when they moved to California to be with him. Bella's own parents lived in different states. "Is it a scary thought? The idea that being with me means dealing with my family on occasion."

Her eyes went wide. "No. It's not...Well. Yeah, it's a little scary, but not the kind of scary you run from."

"No?"

She pushed up onto her toes and kissed the tip of his nose. "Not me."

Again, the front door came open. This time, it was Edward's toddler nephew, Henry. He glared up at his uncle, showing off his mother's perfect bitch face in miniature, chubbier form. "Unca, what are you doing?!" Each word was its own sentence, pronounced with every bit of the exasperation a tiny child could muster—which was a lot, it seemed. "We are going to be late."

"You can't be late for Disneyland."

"Yes-huh." In an instant, the irritation drained from his face and his eyes went big and watery. "Unca, I know you're kissing on your lady, but they'll close the doors. If we're late, they close them. Daddy told me to tell you if you keep kissing, they not let us in."

"Your daddy is…" Edward huffed, knowing better than to disparage Henry's father in front of him. He shook his head. "Daddy isn't from here like I am. I go to Disneyland all the time. They don't lock the doors except when they close for the night." He looked to Bella and gave her a big smooch. "And they definitely don't close the doors if you're kissing on your lady."

"You are so gross."

"I know your parents, Bub. They're the grossest."

Henry nodded solemnly. Poor, traumatized child. Edward curled an arm around Bella and looked to her. "Last chance to back out."

"You know, I've never actually been to Disneyland with a child. Gotta cross that off the bucket list."

"Ha. You'll rue the day." He chuckled, shaking his head. "So, how's our timeline looking? We met five minutes after the demise of my relationship and one minute after yours. Dated accidentally. Meet the parents only days after we've decided to figure out what we have going on here, and now our first official date is with my entire family."

Her smile was wry. "Good thing we don't live in Vegas. We'd be married by now."

 _ **~0~**_

Disneyland with a child was both fun and tedious. Everything had to be carefully planned around bathroom availability and snack times. And meltdowns, like the one that occurred when Henry had to be told he was too short to ride Indiana Jones.

"Uh oh. Whoa. Ooooh!" Edward flailed around a bit to catch Henry's attention and then made a show of falling into a squat. "Oh no! Look, Henry. I shrunk. I can't go on the ride now either."

Henry stuffed two fingers in his mouth and looked at his uncle, dubious. "Nuh-uh." The nonsensical word made even worse by his full mouth.

"I am. I'm short now. Look." Edward walked in a crouch.

Henry giggled. Edward stood up, offering his hand. "Come on, kiddo. How about we see how fast we can get those teacups to go?"

As he straightened up back to his full height, he was surprised to find Bella standing so close to him. She blinked too, leaning backward, but not before he caught the look of adoration on her face. The air hummed. Edward reached out to take her hand with his free one, and shivered at the intimacy of the connection.

A hand clapping him on the shoulder made Edward startle. "Let's get going. Out of sight, out of mind." Carlisle pointed them in the opposite direction of Indiana Jones.

Edward glanced at Bella ruefully. This was yet another reason you weren't supposed to do the meet-the-family gathering at the very beginning. Edward was in that space where he wanted nothing, could think about nothing except Bella. To taste her lips, to touch her, to just sit and stare at her. It had taken nothing—merely her nearness to make him forget they were surrounded by other people.

He loved his family, but he wanted to get her alone. The buzz in the air between them was a heady, distracting thing. Edward was hyper-aware of the feel of her hand in his, every place their skin connected alive with electricity and heat. His mind skipped, cataloguing all the semi-secretive places he wanted to pull her—pretty areas where he could kiss her away from the main crush of the crowd. Snow White's Grotto would be nice, or maybe under the dancing waters near the fairies.

Maybe a lot of things, except that he was here with his family. Whom he loved, he had to keep reminding himself. He'd love them even more if they were back in Alaska at this particular moment, but he supposed it wasn't their fault timing seemed to have some kind of vendetta against him.

They were stuck in lines, pressed up close to each other, that connection and desire a tangible presence. Edward couldn't speak for Bella, but it was making him slow on the uptake. He kept losing track of the conversation, his attention pulled by the idle stroke of Bella's finger along the inside of his wrist.

"What?" Edward asked, startled to realize his sister-in-law was staring at him expectantly.

Rosalie smirked and leaned in, dropping her voice so Henry wouldn't hear. "I said, I think naptime is going to hit after this." Her eyes darted to Bella, then back to him knowingly. "You and Bella should go have fun on the grownup rides while we wait."

Maybe Edward should have been embarrassed or said he would stay with the family, but to hell with all that. He wanted Bella alone, dammit. He found himself on tenterhooks after that, so impatient that when they finally did get into their teacups, Edward pushed them to the max. It was as though he thought if he spinned them fast enough, the ride would be over sooner.

Henry, who'd insisted on climbing into Edward and Bella's cup, was delighted. When the ride was over, all three of them stumbled off, Edward and Bella colliding into each other, giggling like teenagers while Henry attempted to dart as his father, teetered off balance, and landed on his butt.

The little boy didn't resist when Emmett lifted him up. As Rosalie predicted, his eyelids were drooping. He was fighting it, but he was going to lose.

"Why don't you give your tired feet a rest, bub?" Emmett said, rubbing his son's back. "Want to ride in the stroller for a minute?"

"Okay," Henry rested his head on his father's shoulder.

 _Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep._ Edward concentrated whatever latent superpowers he might have into the silent command.

They walked down to a small dock-like area beset with tables behind the face painting stand near the teacups and the Matterhorn. It was one of the places Edward wanted to kiss Bella eventually—set over an idyllic little pond with ducks, trees, and flowers.

Edward went on a churro and popcorn run to expel some of his pent up energy. As he did, he practiced sounding innocent as he excused himself and Bella for an hour or so.

His brother, of course, had different ideas. Edward had no sooner distributed the treats before Emmett announced. "Come along, siblings. I got us a Fast Pass for the Haunted Mansion that's coming up in a few minutes."

Edward blinked, sure he'd heard wrong. "What?"

"Ali's favorite." Emmett slung his arm around his sister and ruffled her hair. She pushed him away, shaking her head but smiling. "Let's go." He plucked four churros from the table and waved his hand. "Daylight's burning, and nap time never lasts as long as it needs to."

Edward looked to Bella. She looked a bit harried, but she reached for Edward's hand as she fell into step behind Emmett and Alice. "I'm pretty sure Henry meets the height requirement on that ride."

Emmett glanced over his shoulder and flashed a grin at her. "It's the wall-to-wall creeps that keep us off that one. Ghosts and kiddos don't always mix."

"Ah. True."

Edward had to work hard to convince himself not to be moody at this intrusion. It helped that it was the Haunted Mansion ride. It was an ideal ride for what he wanted. The Haunted Mansion ride consisted of a Dune Buggy—a pod-shaped seat on a conveyor belt that effectively cut the two people riding in it off from the other riders the majority of the time. It was a dark ride too—through a haunted mansion. Alice and Emmett would catch glimpses of them making out, but they couldn't interrupt.

So, Edward waited. He had to clench his fist at his side to keep from tapping his foot as they made small talk in line. When they got into the first room—a gigantic elevator where the ride's narration started and the haunted room appeared to be stretching—Edward stepped behind Bella. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against him. Even in the crowded room, he heard her breath catch. Her hands went over his.

They were on the same page; he knew it for sure then. He'd thought they were—that she was just as distracted, caught up in this pull, struggling to be part of the group when they wanted to disappear into a world of two.

He leaned in, whispering all the words to the narration into her ear, taunting chuckles included. He loved the way her laugh felt, vibrating against her back and his chest.

They were still holding hands as they made their way through the crush of people to get to the dune buggies. Edward imagined how she would taste, wondering if the the cinnamon-sugar of the churro would still be sweet on her lips.

As they stepped onto the conveyor belt, Emmett suddenly grabbed Edward's arm. "Come on, bro. Come sit with me."

It happened too quickly for Edward to stop it. Before he knew it, he was seated next to Emmett and Alice had slid in beside Bella in the car behind them. Both of his siblings were cackling. When he realized what they'd done, he socked Emmett hard in his arm. Not that it did him any good. Emmett just laughed harder.

"You have no idea how much I hate you right now," Edward groused, crossing his arms.

"Oh, little brother." Emmett laughed. "It's your own fault for moving so far away. You make it hard for me to mess with you. I'm the big brother. I have a quota to fill. Besides, it's just karma coming back to bite you on the ass. Or had you forgotten that you made it your mission to cockblock me every chance you got when I was in high school?"

Edward opened his mouth to argue but then stopped.

Emmett was right. He had been a cockblocking little bastard back then.

Well, what? Emmett was a pain in his ass.

Fine, and vice versa. They were brothers.

Emmett laughed again and ruffled his hair. "Love you, bro."

"Hate you, Emmett."

* * *

 **A/N: Heheh My notes were full of threats to Emmett's person (and mine, but I'm used to that). How do you feel about him?**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: For the record, yes of course I know that the Haunted Mansion cars are called Doom Buggies. I'm just skirting the line between the people well-versed in Disney and people who have never been there (which almost all of my prereaders happen to be). I omit some lingo on purpose.**

* * *

Bella stared at the blurry photo in her email for a long time, shivers rolling down her spine that ran hot instead of cold. That had been the name of the game all day at Disneyland. A glance made her tremble. His touch set her alight. Her body was alive, her skin aware. She'd never wanted to touch someone so much, to kiss him.

The photo had been taken on the Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters ride. It was an interactive ride, where you were meant to be shooting at lit-up targets along the track. Edward and Bella had both gotten a solid score of 0 because the pods, like on the Haunted Mansion ride, were for two riders; the track was dark, and they were relatively hidden from the other riders. For the five minute ride, Bella couldn't even remember breathing. She knew nothing but Edward's lips on hers.

At some point on the ride, your picture was taken. It was the only photo where stations were set up outside the ride allowing you to email the photo to yourself, free of charge. Holding her hand, Edward had sent her a secretive smile when they first saw the photo—the only one on the screen where the riders were lip-locked instead of pointing their blasters at the evil Emperor Zurg.

Bella started as her phone trilled with a message. As though he'd read her mind from across town, Edward's message wound desire even tighter in her. She licked her lips, discovering the true meaning of hot and bothered.

Edward: I couldn't get enough of the way you tasted today.

The kisses they'd shared that day, when they could steal a moment away from his family, were deep. The way his tongue felt, stroking against hers, was sensual, and even the memory of it made Bella's nipples taut. She was so crazy for this man.

 _Disneyland kisses—churros and Dole Whip._

Bella's eyes flew open, and she gasped out loud. It wasn't Edward's voice she'd heard in her ear just then; it was Jasper's. It had the effect of ice cold water on a flame. She shivered for much different reasons now.

The trip to Disneyland had been surreal on many points. Her feelings for Edward, desire strong among them, had been consuming. But, she couldn't pretend she didn't have a romantic history at Disneyland. There was muscle memory there she couldn't ignore, like the way her body had waited, during the fireworks, for Jasper to pull her into his arms, to circle her from behind, his arms around her waist, his broad chest against her back.

Edward had stepped to her side, his arm around her, his fingers stroking gently at her hip. Things were different with Edward, especially because they were sharing this first time to Disneyland as a couple with his family, but she couldn't pretend the place wasn't plagued with almost a decade worth of memories.

Bella dialed Edward's number. He answered after the first ring.

"If we do this over the phone, my brother is definitely going to hear us."

There went that shiver again. Bella had to bite her lip to stop from moaning. His voice was gravelly, full of promise. She opened her mouth, but the only thing that came out was a strangled squeak.

"Bella?"

She laughed—an almost maniacal sound—and pressed her palm to her flushed cheek. She was lying in bed, and it would be so easy to imagine stroking her hands down her body, touching herself where she most wanted him. "I never was good at phone sex," she said wryly.

He chuckled. God, she loved the sound of it. "I wasn't kidding about my brother, anyway. He's not a good sleeper, and I'm on the couch."

Bella closed her eyes, trying to pry her mind away from the gutter. She could easily imagine him there, and considered asking him whether he slept with a shirt on or not. This was important information to have, after all.

"Bella?" Edward asked again.

"Sorry." She breathed in and out slowly. "I was beating back my libido with a stick."

"Uh huh." She heard the sound of what she imagined was his tongue sweeping over his lips with a light smack. "And, why are we doing that?"

She rolled her eyes skyward. There was a wicked voice whispering in her ear, telling her how quickly she could have him where she wanted. It wouldn't take much to convince him to come. Her place was family-free, and she was positive her bed was more comfortable than his couch. They could be as noisy as they wanted. Sure, he might have to do the walk of shame back to his place, but he was a big boy. No real shame in that game, right?

"I was thinking maybe your family did us a favor in the long run," Bella said.

"You think?"

She took a shaky breath and smirked to herself. "You know that sex kitten who showed up on your door with no clothes on?"

"I'm not going to forget her any time soon."

"Yeah, well. I'm not sure where she came from." Bella twisted her blanket in her finger, blushing all over again. "I've only been with two guys. And the first one hardly even counts. Four minutes on prom night."

"You want to take it slower," Edward said as though putting it all together.

"Hell no. Are you kidding? You got me thinking with my dick, Cullen. What I want is to ride you into the sunset."

He groaned. "Bella."

She bit the inside of her cheek. So, so easy. "I don't mean to be so hot and cold with you. This thing with us is like a snowball coming down a mountain, just gathering steam. I want you, Edward. I'm not trying to say I don't, but I'm not ready for it to be a foregone conclusion yet." She rolled over, burying a groan into her pillow before she raised her head and put the phone back to her ear. "Am I making any sense?"

"You'd rather this be about us dating than about how fast we can jump into bed."

"Yes," she said, letting out a breath with a whoosh. "God, why was that so hard?"

"Well, it can't be as hard as other things I can mention," Edward said.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Is this the part where you give me the blue balls argument?"

"That would make me a manipulative bastard truly not worth your time."

She threw her head back on the pillow. "I'm giving myself blue balls."

"Not for nothing, Bella, but in one conversation, you've referenced your balls and your dick. Just what am I going to find when I finally get you out of your clothes?"

"Are you afraid mine are bigger than yours?"

He snorted. "Oh, honey." His tone dropped to a low, sultry tone. "I'm not worried about that. At all."

Bella whimpered and then laughed at herself. "Fuck me."

"Didn't we decide against that?"

"You think you're funny, don't you?"

There was that chuckle again. It sent delicious tingles down her spine. Bella sighed, letting the warmth of it spread over her.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked.

He hummed an affirmative, and Bella stared at her ceiling. "You broke up with a woman you planned to marry not that long ago. Why are you so much more relaxed with all this?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "It does make me seem like a flake, doesn't it?"

"I didn't say that."

"I was just thinking out loud." He sighed. "Dating is a weird thing. Let's call a spade a spade—when you date, you're holding tryouts for the person you're supposed to end up with forever. So, if the date goes well, you have fun; you go on another date.

"Maybe I never picked up the social cue on when that's supposed to stop. Kate never gave me a reason to break up with her. We got along. Our life together was good. We were happy. I still think we could have had a happy marriage."

"You weren't devastated when she left you?" Bella asked, closing her eyes at the raw ache at the center of her chest.

"I was angry, sad, and confused," Edward said. "But no, not devastated. Which, in retrospect, I think has a lot to do with how much work I put into the relationship. It's not that I wouldn't have put in the effort. I just didn't have to work for what we had."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Maybe it can be. But, what I'm saying is, if you're comparing your relationship with Jasper to mine with Kate's, you and Jasper had much more of a shared history. There were things you had to overcome that brought you together."

"Yeah, and ripped us apart," Bella muttered, still bitter.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring him up. We were talking about me and my potential fickleness."

"I don't think you're fickle," Bella said quickly. She ran a hand over her eyes.

"I don't think I am either." He sounded thoughtful as he spoke. "There are too many variables to compare what I had with her with the potential of what we have. For one thing…."

Bella sat up in bed, her brows furrowed at his silence. "For one thing what?"

He sighed again, this one soft. "For one thing, what I feel for you is more."

Bella's heart skipped a beat. "More what?"

"Just more."

She bit her lip hard, fighting a goofy grin. More.

Edward cleared his throat. "In any event. I think the reason we don't have a clear answer is a matter of data."

"Data?" An amused smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, and Bella pulled the blanket up around her, hunching down in her bed. She shivered again. It was almost as though he were spooned up behind her, murmuring in her ear.

"It's like I said: too many variables at play here. We need to gather more data before we can find an hypothesis to the age old question."

"Which is?"

"Why us? Why you and me? In a world of seven billion, that's a very specific combination."

"Hmm." Bella reached up to turn off her light. "And why would we work when our other, ah, combinations haven't?"

"Exactly." He hummed low in his throat. "If there is a science to all this, maybe when we met isn't bad timing after all?"

"How do you figure that one?" Bella asked, her tone gentle. She wanted to be less confused about all this. Moving on would be so much easier if relationships could be wrapped up in a neat box, whole and complete, that could be buried in the backyard.

"Well, if there's a science to the combination of you and me, then the fact we met when we were both single eliminates one off the biggest hurdles. That we were free to find each other."

She laughed. "Our shirts were like a biological marker. Like peacock feathers."

"Are you trying to mate with me again, beautiful Swan?"

"Oh, man. That was so bad."

"Happy to be of service." He sounded chipper. "But back to the science. We need to gather more data."

"You know, people who aren't gigantic nerds call that dating."

"Well, it's not the scientific method, but I'll take it." He paused a beat. "And don't pretend you're not a gigantic nerd too. You're a scientist same as I am. I'll bet you love spreadsheets and parameters and exposing the animals you're studying to various environmental stimuli."

"Oh, baby. Talk dirty to me," she said in her best 900 voice.

It worked. He groaned. "Bella."

She sighed, her eyelids getting heavy. "It could all end in tears, you know," she mumbled, not all the way awake.

"It could, but they could be happy tears."

The thought sent warmth through her chest and a trickle of fear across her skin. "Okay," she said around a yawn. "Then I'll pick you up at seven on Thursday. In the morning."

"Wait. What?"

"You're off on Thursday, right?" She was so sleepy, she knew she was mumbling now.

"Yeah, I'm off Thursday. But where are we going?"

"A date."

He laughed. "Yeah, I caught onto that, Bella. But where? Where can we possibly go at seven in the morning on my day off?"

"Just wear comfortable shoes. I'll tell you later."

"Do I get a choice here?"

Even though he couldn't see her, Bella opened one eye . "Of course. Go ahead and stand me up if you want to."

A beat.

"Do you want to?" she asked.

He laughed. "My schedule is clear for you."

"Good deal." She closed her eyes again.

Bella couldn't remember actually ending the call. All she remembered were his far away words like a caress against her ear, "Good night, Bella," and her final, vague thought that it was nice to fall asleep to his voice.

And it would be really nice to wake up to it.

* * *

 **A/N: Don't worry, my blue-balled darlings. We'll get there. Stop thinking with your dicks. ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: *yawn* Are we awake? It's 6:50ish in the morning. Ready for our date?**

* * *

When Bella sent him a link to Pottermore—JK Rowling's website for all things Harry Potter—Edward had a good idea where she was planning on taking him. He played along, though, and sent her back his results when he was sorted into Ravenclaw.

Bella: You cheated.

Edward: Did not.

Bella: Ravenclaw implies you're clever. Quick of wit.

Edward: Ha.

The morning of their date, Edward was still only half awake when she knocked on his door. When he opened it, he stepped backward, finding a brown, squarish envelope an inch from his nose. Edward blinked at it and then looked blearily up at the bright-eyed woman waving it in his face. "I'm an owl," Bella said.

For almost thirty full seconds, Edward only stared, searching his brain to make that particular statement make sense. When he couldn't, he finally spoke. "What?" he asked eloquently.

She laughed and shook the envelope again. "Will you take this?"

He took it.

She smirked. "And open it? You're not a morning person, are you?"

"It would be good if there was coffee in here. That's all I'm saying," Edward said as he opened the envelope. He started to read, and then grinned when he realized what it was. "This is a Hogwarts acceptance letter."

"Yes. Congratulations! Now, I can give you your stuff."

"I have stuff?"

Bella picked up a bag at her feet and proffered it to him. Inside, he found a shirt that was made to look like a robe with a blue and gray striped tie and a blue and gray striped scarf. "We'll have to visit Olivander's to get you a wand."

"We're cheating on Disneyland?"

This was exactly what he'd suspected, but he could let her have her fun.

"Do you know how many people Disneyland is in an intimate relationship with? And that's not even counting the one-time guests." She pulled a piece of paper out of the bag and handed it to him. "So, let's play the field a little."

The text written there actually did shock him. "Bella, this is a three-day ticket."

"Yeah. Universal is weird. Believe me when I say it made more sense to buy the three-day discount ticket then a regular priced one day ticket." She waved a hand. "Anyway. We have six months to go again."

"So, what you're saying is you're securing me for at least three dates?"

"Don't look at me. This is Costco's idea." Bella flashed him a serene smile. "I don't even like you that much."

Edward leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. "Liar," he said before he kissed her hello.

She sighed when their kiss broke a minute later and rested her cheek against his shoulder, her hand still cupped around the back of his neck. "You know this is too much, right?" Edward murmured against her ear, content to hold her close.

"Nah. I've seen all those romance movies. You're supposed to do something big and extravagant so the person you're courting gets dazzled into liking you back."

"Dazzling, huh? So I'll be in too deep before I realize you're actually an asshole?"

Bella raised her head with a look on her face that told him she wanted to laugh. She bit her lip hard and he raised an eyebrow, pressing down with his thumb to release her lip from her teeth. "You have a joke about being in too deep on the tip of your tongue don't you?"

She burst out laughing, hiding her head against his neck. "And talking about assholes too. You kinky bastard."

Edward groaned, tightening his hold around her. "We're not supposed to be thinking about sex."

"Whose dumb idea was that?" Bella kissed the underside of his chin. "Come on. We have a long drive ahead of us. We can stop for coffee along the way."

 ** _~0~_**

"See, this is the first difference. I don't have to walk through Downtown Disney to get to Disneyland. I can, but it's my choice," Bella said of the shopping center just outside of Disneyland.

Edward slipped his hand into hers. "You have to admit the Universal City Walk is much more impressive." He craned his neck, smirking at a cardboard King Kong hanging between the buildings.

Bella pulled them to a halt and pointed a finger in his face. "You bite your tongue, sir. Downtown Disney came first."

He caught her finger and smirked. "Actually, my little know-it-all, Downtown Disney was built in 2001. I know for a fact the City Walk pre-existed it."

She pushed onto the balls of her feet, giving herself height to get in his face. "Listen, smarty pants, Downtown Disney originated with Disney World in 1975 as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village. It's older than Star Wars."

This time, it was Edward who bit his lip. "You're a nerd. A Disney nerd."

Her mock-angry face fell into a perplexed expression. "You already knew that."

"Yeah." He wrapped his hand around her wrist and pulled her toward him. He rubbed his free hand up and down her back. "But the demonstration was damn sexy."

She tilted her head up and that was all the invitation Edward needed. He kissed her with probably more tongue than anyone needed to see in an extremely public place.

"You know we're at least two and a half hours from home, right?" Bella said, her voice husky.

"I hear they have hotels in LA."

"You're not going to help me be good, are you?" Her hands were warm against his shoulder blades.

He sighed and kissed her cheek. Then, he stepped to her side, keeping her hand in his. "I want to make it clear, I want to spend time with you. I like hanging out with you, and not just because I'm waiting to get to the sex part. It's just that you turn me all kinds of on."

"That is a problem. We are so very pretty."

Somehow, they managed to make it past the entrance gate. "They scan your thumbprint," Edward said, impressed. "Another step beyond Disney."

"You know what? I didn't bring you here to replace Disneyland in your heart. You can fool around with other theme parks. That's fine, but at the end of the day, you should know where your home is."

"What are you, a Hufflepuff in disguise? Loyal and true." Edward tugged on the red and yellow striped scarf she wore. "I knew you were lying about being a legitimate Gryffindor. Just because Harry Potter was in Gryffindor house doesn't mean you have to be too."

"If I want to be in Gryffindor for anyone, it's Minerva 'Badass' McGonagall." She poked him in the side. "Are you trying to tell me you don't think I'm brave to the point of recklessness?"

Edward wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I think you're actually Slytherin. Cunning and resourceful and maybe just a little bit evil."

They made their way through the park, stopping just short of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and ducking into the Kwik-E-Mart from The Simpson's Springfield. Bella cackled as they passed Marge and Bart who were both stationed outside the mart.

Inside, they bought a huge, pink-frosted donut—an oversized replica of Homer Simpson's favorite snack—to breakfast on.

"I'll tell you what. Disneyland wins in the food department," Edward said, looking across at the line of Simpson's related eateries. "I don't know that I want to pay amusement park prices for a Krusty Burger." Under the table, he nudged her feet with his.

Her lips tugged up, and she trapped his foot between hers, playing. "Point for Disneyland for decent food. We're eating at the Three Broomsticks at lunch though. Minus points for Universal not having reservations."

When they were done with their gigantic donut breakfast, they went to face the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The entrance was a stone archway, beyond which was the snow-covered village of Hogsmeade, an all wizard village direct from the books. Bella stumbled to a halt, and Edward stood beside her, both of them looking in.

"It's not just me, right?" she asked, her voice a little breathy.

"No." He had to laugh. "It's magical."

It really was, in a totally non-Disney way. Disneyland had Disney magic—nostalgia and just a sense of wonder in the air. Universal was an altogether different experience. Rather than having themed lands, they were transported. The town of Springfield was filled with the facades and characters right out of The Simpsons. So it was with Hogsmeade and Hogwarts looming in the distance.

The Hogwarts Express sat off to the side, and people stood in line to take pictures with its conductor. Most of the Hogsmeade favorites were represented. They ducked first into Honeydukes—a candy shop which was indeed filled with all the things mentioned in the books like Chocolate Frogs, Every Flavor Beans, Acid Pops, Fudge Flies and the like. Bella zipped straight to the bakery counter and ordered a pumpkin pasty and a cauldron cake.

"I've always wondered what these tasted like," Bella said, handing him the cake while she bit into the pasty.

"Hmm. Me too." Edward tugged her hand, bringing her to him and ducking down so he could kiss the taste right from her lips.

In Zonko's Joke Shop, Edward bought Bella a pygmy puff—a big, pink ball of fluff. She threatened to buy him U-No-Poo, _The constipation sensation that's gripping the nation,"_ which were really essentially green M and M's.

They spent the most time in Dervish and Banges, Gladrags Wizardwear, and the Owl Post caught up in the nostalgia as they perused robes and brooms. Dervish and Banges had a Monster Book of Monsters—a living, furry textbook with nasty teeth that would just as soon gnaw your arm off as let you learn anything—in a cage. Bella, of course, stuck her hand through to pat it and squeaked, jumping backward into Edward's embrace when it snarled at her.

Edward kissed the side of her hair. "I'll protect you from the fake monsters, babe. Don't worry."

Everything was obnoxiously expensive, which Edward found hilarious given that it wasn't difficult to find Harry Potter paraphernalia outside the park. He supposed the same was true of Disneyland, but the things sold at Disney were only available there. "Robes, scarves, ties, brooms. All of that stuff can be bought online," Edward mused.

Bella tapped on her Gryffindor headband, almost identical to the one that sold for eighteen dollars. "I paid $8 for this at Hot Topic."

Edward nodded. "Point Disney."

Outside, they watched a tiny child wave a special wand at one of the windows. He gave a delighted peel of giggles as, at his command, a display of cupcakes twirled merrily. The Universal worker explained to the parents that when they saw a magic symbol displayed on the ground, scattered around Hogsmeade, the child's wand would interact with the scenery.

"Not going to lie, I want that wand," Edward said, leaning down to whisper in Bella's ear.

She gave a shiver and looked over her shoulder. "Is that the Harry Potter version of you want the D?"

Looping an arm around her waist, he brought her backward against him, his lips still near her ear. " _You_ want the D."

She turned her head to kiss his cheek. "It's a sickness."

They managed to make it past Hogsmeade to where the gorgeous Hogwarts Castle loomed. On a platform just outside the village, they got there just in time to see the Hogwarts Frog Choir. A student from each house, dressed in their robes and scarves, climbed onto the platform, each of them carrying a gigantic toad on a pillow.

It was nice. Bella leaned back against him, and Edward held her in his arms, leaning down to croak in her ear like a frog every so often as the choir sang. And it was then he abruptly understood why Bella had brought them here.

They were two people who could lose themselves in the magic of a theme park. They didn't get bogged down by insane lines, tons of people, and near-constant marketing. They lost themselves to the happiness of the place, unashamed to indulge in the childlike wonder.

But Disneyland, as much as they both loved it, didn't belong to only them. There were memories there more bitter than sweet with people they'd lost, people who'd hurt them. And while they were both happier having found each other, it couldn't erase the memories they already had.

This place was new to both of them. This was just theirs.

Edward held Bella close, swaying in time with the music.

They wandered then to the main attraction: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The wait was insane even by their standards, but it passed happily enough. They entertained themselves, debating the darker side of Harry Potter.

"You know those love potions are really problematic, right?" Bella said, recalling that the Weasley twins sold love potions in their joke shop in the books. "Make someone fall in love with you. Anyone?"

"They have spells to render you immobile and totally helpless," Edward pointed out. "Think about that for a minute."

But even those problematic themes didn't damper their experience. The ride's line wound first around and then into the Hogwarts castle, all of it set up with familiar landmarks. Just outside, they found the herbology classroom, and mandrakes could be seen in a neat row. Inside, were first a row of statues and then the familiar entrance to Dumbledore's study. Bella and Edward took turns shouting passwords at it, knowing the Hogwarts Headmaster chose the names of candies.

"Lemondrop," Edward shouted.

But of course, the giant phoenix statue didn't turn around to reveal a winding staircase.

As they walked down the hall, the pictures on the walls moved just like in the films, chatting and jumping from frame to frame. One room even boasted the founders of Hogwarts, all of them chattering, hinting about things to come.

They visited Dumbledore's office with its interesting knick-knacks, including the pensieve—a large, stone dish that held some of Dumbledore's brightly shining memories. Then, in the History classroom, the big three—Harry, Ron, and Hermione—told them about a spell they were wanting to try to get Muggles—non-magic humans—to fly.

After they passed by the Sorting Hat, gleefully singing his song, they were through. They climbed on board the moving conveyor, their feet hanging free and a restraint across their chest, and they were off.

Edward had never experienced a ride like it. They swept over the castle, over the lake, into the forest. Bella caught his hand in a death grip, screaming as they were hurtled through the air, dodging the Whomping Willow, gigantic spiders, and dragons.

At first, Edward laughed between gasps, amused by Bella's shrieks of terror. But then, as they rounded another corner he screamed. Loud. And shrill.

Bella was still cackling as they stumbled out into the obligatory shop. "That scream. I'm surprised they didn't stop the ride."

"Bella," he said with a sigh.

"I thought you were being murdered."

He grabbed her around the waist, hauling her to a corner of the shop so they could be obnoxious out of other people's way. "They were Dementors," he said, tickling her as she faux-fought his attack off. "Evil looking things that suck your soul out and they were in my face."

"You were terrified," she said gleefully.

"I'll show you terrified." He lunged at her and they play-fought until he had her tangled up in his arms, pressed tightly against him.

The air between them heated, crackling and alive. He looked into her hooded eyes, his mouth gone dry. He licked his lips. "You're a horrible person, you know that?"

She laughed breathlessly and shook her head. "Nope."

"You are. Rotten all the way through."

She tilted her chin up. "Shut up. You love me."

The last word came out with a gasp and her eyes went wide as she realized what she'd said. "I mean...I don't mean…"

Edward's heart pounded a mile a minute, and he was sure she could feel it. "No," he said quickly. He adjusted his hold on her, wrapping one arm around her and bringing his hand up to cup her cheek. "It's true. I do love you."

Her lips worked up and down, up and down. Then, her smile spread, wide with wonder and gorgeous. Her eyes lit up, and she threw her arms around his neck.

She kissed him then, giddy kisses between little titters and a tiny dart of tongue. She pulled back after a minute of this, her hand cupped at the back of his head stroking his hair. Her breath shook.

"You don't have to say it back," he whispered.

She tilted her forehead against his. "But it's true. I do love you."

It was the best thing Edward had ever heard.

 ** _~0~_**

The rest of the day passed in a heady haze. They were floating, lost in that surreal space where only the two of them existed. They were in a cloud of new love, where they couldn't stop touching, couldn't stop grinning at each other—those secret stares because they were the only people in the world who understood what love was.

As promised, they ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks, adjacent the Hog's Head Tavern. They ordered Butterbeers—one of the favorite drinks of witches and wizards everywhere—spiked with fireball whiskey. They sat on one side of the table—something Edward swore he'd never do because what kind of people couldn't talk face-to-face. But he couldn't stop touching her, couldn't keep his hands off her. They kissed between sentences, nose to nose, barely touching their food.

They strolled hand in hand when Bella wasn't hopping on his back to catch a ride for a few steps. They waited in another line for the Simpson's Ride, which was phenomenal.

"Rides here are immersive. They're really intense," Edward said, impressed.

"Point over Disney?" Bella asked.

Edward stroked his chin. "Not sure yet. It's a different experience." He grinned and pulled her close against him. "It's new, and I like it."

They went to several of the shows. Edward was called on at the Animal Actor's Show, and a parrot landed on his hand, stole a twenty dollar bill, and eventually returned it. They rode rides and had way too much to eat.

Near the entrance of the park, they entered the Walking Dead attraction which was, in essence, a big, walker-related haunted house. Edward decided it was the best attraction in the park, but mainly because Bella all but plastered herself to his side. She hid her face at his chest, squeaking every time a walker jumped out at them or loomed threateningly.

He liked that—not only having her so close but that she turned to him for safety. It filled something primal in him.

"Bella," he murmured against her ear when they were in the safe, low light of the early evening.

"Hmm?" She turned to him and, as had been happening all day, she seemed shocked by his nearness. Her eyes roamed his face, lingering on his lips.

She was so damn distracting. "Um." He ran his hands up and down her sides absently. "You think maybe you're ready to go?"

Her eyes stopped their undressing of his body and she raised her head to meet his gaze. "Yeah."

He took her hand, leading her toward the exit. They got into the City Walk before Edward couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled her to a bare, quiet wall and pushed her against it. There, he kissed her in earnest, kissed her like he wanted to devour her, which was nothing but the truth.

"Bella," he said again, his voice ragged.

"Yeah?" She was as breathless as he was.

"I was wondering…" He kissed her. "How do you feel…" He kissed her again. "About hotels?"

She moaned, fisting his shirt in hands, and pulled him closer to her. "I'm a big fan of hotels if they're closer to us than home."

"That's good." Placing his hands on the wall on either side of her head, he kissed her hard, pressing her into the wall. "Because I booked a hotel room a mile from here."

She put her hands on his shoulders, pushing him away. For a fraction of a second, he thought he'd made the wrong move, pushed too hard too fast, presumed too much. But then, she grinned. She grabbed the front of his shirt again and started walking, dragging him with her. "What are we waiting for?"

* * *

 **A/N: Welp!**

 **That happened. I didn't get to make nearly as many jokes as I wanted to.**

 **Also had to stop myself from making Edward creeped out at the idea of touching the Tri-Wizard Cup. *winky face***


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thanks for waiting. Here we go.**

* * *

Bella couldn't stop touching Edward. When they got out of the car, they reached for each other instantly. Edward pulled her to him, and she pushed up onto the balls of her feet to kiss him. They tried to walk like that. It didn't work out very well.

Somehow, they made it to the front desk, both of them a little breathless. As Edward cleared his throat, turning his concentration on the bemused desk clerk, Bella slipped her hands in his back pockets. She cupped his ass as she laid her head on his shoulder, listening to him handle the business of checking into their room.

She buried an exasperated noise against his back when she figured out what he'd done. The bastard hadn't rented a room. He'd rented a fancy suite. But her exasperation passed quickly. She was in a silly, fanciful mood; giddy and high on this glorious emotion.

Edward was a hurricane force in her life; there was no getting around that. But maybe that was was it—the elusive reason all of this made sense. The demise of her relationship was its own hurricane. Maybe the two had countered each other—two different kinds of destruction that left her here.

She was flying, and if it turned out being with Edward would only make the fall that much worse, well… She'd survive, and she'd always have this moment. This perfect day.

Though she bit her lip to keep it at bay, a titter still slipped out as they got on the elevator. Edward, his arm still firm around her waist, pulled her against him. He ducked his head so his voice rumbled in her ear, "What's so funny?"

She smirked. "Your face."

He took her face in his hands and kissed her. "I think you're lying."

"I think you're ridiculous," she said between kisses. "A suite, Edward? Was that necessary?"

He chuckled, pulling back with his hands still cupped at her cheeks. He stroked a thumb across her lips, his eyes gone soft now. "Heart of a romantic, I suppose. There's something about the first time. It should be special. Not some random tiny room in a run-down motel."

Bella had to smile. She kissed him again, soft and sweet, looping her arms around his neck. He squeezed her waist and kissed a trail up to her ear. "Besides, it gives us a variety of surfaces to work with. The bed. The couch. The counter." He dragged his teeth along the side of her neck. "The bath."

A thrill of excitement and pleasure went down her spine, and she had to stop herself from mauling him right there. "You're very wicked," she said, stumbling out of the elevator with him.

"Yes." He pushed her up against the wall, taking her mouth. "I'm going to have my wicked way with you."

"Uh huh." She poked him in the chest. "And just what makes you think you're going to be the one making all the decisions here, hmm?" She pushed him until he hit the other wall and kissed him, her hands flexing against his chest.

"Mmph." His hands ran up and down her back, caressing her ass. "You first. Then me."

Bella bit the inside of her cheek, swallowing a groan. Edward waggled his eyebrows, his eyes dark and deliciously dangerous. "Then, whichever one of us is still standing gets the third time."

"Oh, baby." She hauled him off the wall and slipped her hand in his and pulled him over to their room. When she leaned against the door, he crashed into her, taking her lips instantly. She kissed him back, but just as quickly broke the kiss, holding his head between her hand. She grinned at him. "I'm going to wear you out the first try."

He pressed her up against the door with a growl he drowned against her lips. They kissed voraciously, and Edward had to try three times to get the keycard in the slot before he could get the door open.

They practically fell into the room, crashing against the wall. Bella ran her hands up his chest, feeling him beneath his shirt. Swimmer's body. So yummy.

He moaned softly into her mouth, his hands running up and down her back. Bella was trying to keep enough of her mind to decide whether she should rip his clothes off and throw him to the floor when he slipped his hands under her shirt.

It was like cold water hitting her right in the face. Bella broke their kiss with a gasp. She leapt backward, her hand clapped over her mouth.

Edward still had his hands out, as though still holding her. He blinked in confusion. "What? What happened?"

Though she pressed her lips together as hard as she could, the words still came tumbling out. "We can't have sex. I can't have sex." She clapped her hand over her mouth again.

"Um." Edward's brow furrowed. "Don't take this the wrong way, because you aren't under any obligation at any time, but, what?"

"I can't answer that."

"Okay."

Bella huffed. She crossed her arms and crossed the room. She sat on the edge of the bed and studiously avoided his gaze. "Do you…" The words tangled in her mouth. She rolled her eyes to the ceiling and shook her head. "I can't believe I'm going to say this."

She closed her eyes and tried again. "Okay, so, you know there's this misogynistic trick women use to police themselves because heaven forbid they get a little action whenever the hell they want with whomever they want?"

Edward, clearly being careful to give her space, took a few steps closer to her. "I don't want you to feel like you have to justify yourself to me, but I'm confused."

"I didn't shave my legs so I wouldn't feel the urge to jump you." She winced. "And I'm wearing underwear with a hole in it." She tilted her head all the way back. "And my bra doesn't match."

He'd pressed his lips tightly together, and she glared at him. "You're trying not to laugh at me."

That did it. He broke out in soft laughter. He sat beside her, brushing her hair back out of her eyes. "You're adorable."

"Ugh." Bella fell backward on the bed and glared at the ceiling. "I don't want to be adorable the first time we have sex. I want to be dead sexy. Don't you know anything about the female playbook?"

He lay down beside her, propping himself up on one arm. He rested a hand on her belly, his eyes dancing. "Ah, see, I seem to remember a dead sexy, Ariel-themed lingerie set. You know how they say men think about sex roughly every seven seconds? What image do you think comes up ninety-five percent of the time?"

Bella's lip twitched. "What about the other five?"

He wrinkled his nose, but he grinned. "Wellll. I don't know if this is the right time in our relationship to disclose the inordinate amount of time I spend thinking about how sex with a mermaid would work."

Bella burst out laughing. "You're just all kinds of wrong, Cullen."

"What? They have to reproduce somehow. Did you see how many daughters King Triton had?" He tickled her belly, making her suck in a breath before she caught him by the wrist.

He teased the hem of her shirt with one fingertip, his eyes intent on her. "So, we've already covered dead sexy. And let's be honest, whatever underwear you have on is just going to end up on the floor."

Bella pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth. A rush of excitement made her want to claw at his clothes. When he looked at her like that, she couldn't help but feel dead sexy.

Edward straightened up, kneeling on the bed. "Now, about the legs." He took her by the ankle, holding her fast when she tried to yank it away. His eyes met hers, mischievous. "You shouldn't be self-conscious. I haven't shaved my legs for a good ten years."

"Ten years?"

He shrugged. "I was in drama for half a minute when I was a freshman."

"Wow. Sorry I missed that." She reached for him again, trying to bat his hands away, but he only gripped her ankle more securely. He pushed her jeans up.

"Oh, my God." He pulled her leg close, bending his head down so he was almost nose to nose with her skin. Then, he looked up at her with wide, horrified eyes. "That...that's human hair."

Bella flushed and rolled her eyes, yanking her leg out of his grasp. She scooted away from him, further up the bed.

He followed her, crawling on his hands and knees. He overtook her quickly, resting his elbows on either side of her. "Gee. You're right. The idea of having sex with you and your spiky legs is disgusting," he said, deadpan. He shifted, thrusting his hips against hers. "Can you feel how turned off I am?"

Bella arched up, meeting his hips. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her.

The mood had shifted. The urgency, the need to rip and tear and scratch had subsided. There would be time for that. Time for everything. This time, their first time, could be about this. About touch. About taste. About the tiny moans he made when she stroked the spot behind his ear.

Yeah, she really liked that little noise.

Edward rested all of his weight on her, taking both of her hands and stretching them above her head. Not to restrain her. No. He twined their fingers together, holding on tightly. He moved on her, his body sliding neatly into the space hers made. She spread her legs, wrapping them around him, pulling him closer.

The friction was delicious. She tilted her head back, breaking their kiss with a gasp. Edward took it as an invitation to nip and suck at her neck. She ran her fingers through his hair, gripping and soothing in turn.

Good god. And they hadn't even gotten out of their clothes.

"I can fix that," Edward said, his voice rough as he took her lips again.

He managed to get to his knees without breaking their kiss until the very last second. He knelt between her legs, his hand resting on her belly. He stroked her lightly, his eyes roaming her body, and she wondered how she looked. Her face was flushed. Her hair had to be a wreck—though his wasn't much better. She smiled, reaching up to cup his cheek. He took her hand, pressing it against his cheek.

"You know, I don't mean to set expectations I can't live up to, but this is going to be awesome," he said.

"Awesome?" she giggled. "Are you thirteen?"

"Listen, lady. I've got moves thirteen-year-old me couldn't dream of." He took one leg and brought it up, making her gasp as he rested it on his shoulder. His fingers stroked the inside of her thigh from her knee right up to tease her center. "It's just a matter of where to start. Here, with my tongue?"

Bella shivered, but then she laughed. "Let's get real, buddy. We've been walking around Universal all damn day. I'll have sex with you, because you got me all hot, bothered, and worked up."

"And it's going to be sweaty and messy anyway?"

"Exactly. But I'm not going to stick my tongue into it. And you're not going to stick your tongue in it." She grinned at him. "But I'll tell you what you can stick in it."

"Oh, right. Where were we? Right. Too many clothes."

Bella sat up, scooting backward. She lifted her arms, letting him pull her shirt off. He cupped her breast, rubbing a thumb over her nipple through her bra as he leaned in to steal another kiss. Bella kissed him back and tugged at the bottom of his shirt.

It took minutes, because they kept getting lost in kisses, in touch. Bella found she was fascinated by the way his back felt under her hands as his shoulders moved. She liked how he had just enough hair that she could run her fingers through it.

Eventually, though, they were both nude, standing beside the bed, devouring each other with their hands.

He had a nice ass. Just perfect to cup in her hands. "I like touching you," she said in a rasp near his ear. "I think I'm going to do that a lot more now."

"Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do." His hands were splayed wide at her back, his head ducked down to drop kisses along the tops of her breasts.

She reached down between them. His cock had been poking her as they kissed. She took it in her hand now, feeling the hot length of him. He was thick. She bit her lip, aching to feel the heat of him as he stretched her, filled her.

She wasn't nervous, she realized. Not at all. Not with him.

"Lay down," she commanded.

He sucked in a breath but did what she instructed without hesitation. She straddled him, brushing her center over him, teasing them both. Edward put a hand on her hip and his thumb right on her clit. She arched backward in surprise. "Oh, hell."

Bella managed to reach for the condom they'd thrown on the bed in the midst of their mutual undressing. She took his beautiful cock in her hand again, drawing her fingertips along the ridges of him, teasing him even as he teased her. She rolled the condom on and he brought both of his hands to her hips, holding her as she rose up enough to take him in.

"Christ, Bella."

They moved together, his hips pumping up, deep into her. Her hips rolling in time with his thrusts. She balanced herself with a hand on his abs. His hands moved up, taking her breasts, squeezing and rolling her nipples with skilled fingers.

Bella loved the noises he made for her. The guttural cries and gasps and whimpers. He whimpered for her. They moved slow at first, an easy roll, eyes on each other. She was breathless, not just because of how he felt moving in her, but because of the way he looked at her—tenderness and awe and desire and love.

Slow and steady didn't cut it for long.

She rode him harder, scrapping her nails along his skin. She moaned—high-pitched sounds that spiked into screams. "Edward. Edward. Oh, God."

"Bella." The word came out raw. His fingers dug into her hips. "Bella...I need…"

The movement was so sudden, Bella hardly knew what happened. One minute she was riding him, grinding her hips into his. The next, he'd flipped them so her back was flat on the bed. She gasped and groaned, feeling the emptiness of him being gone from her.

Edward was on his knees. He moved quickly, putting one of her legs back over his shoulder, spreading her wide. He pushed into her, filling her in one hard, deep stroke. She shrieked, her head thrown back. She hardly had time to drag in a breath as he pulled back only to scream again when he slammed back into her. She arched into him, meeting his next thrust. She hooked her free leg around his waist, feeling the flex of his ass and his back as he fucked her into the mattress.

"Are you gonna come for me, baby?" he asked, voice breathless as her walls began to squeeze him.

She could barely answer. He was so deep inside her, hitting her just the right way. "Yes. Yes." Her shoulders pressed flat on the bed but her ass arched up. He pulled back just enough to get her other leg over his shoulder. He took her mouth just as she began to cry out. She could feel the pulse of him, the tell-tale jerk of his hips, and knew they were coming together.

He collapsed against her then, his ragged breath near her ear as he buried his face in the comforter beside her. She ran shaking fingers through his damp hair, letting her legs come down.

Minutes passed before he raised his head. They kissed—tiny, sweet kisses as their breaths slowed.

"I love you," he murmured against her lips.

Her heart was so full, but her grin was mischievous when she answered. "I know."

* * *

 **A/N: We're approaching the end, my duckies. I hope you're enjoying the ride.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: These kids ran away from me. I'm thinking one more chapter after this. And then something gratuitous for an epilogue.**

* * *

 **~Three Years and Change Later~**

Bella hummed to herself as she brushed out her wet hair. Her eyes were closed, so she didn't see Edward's approach. She was knocked breathless when he attacked, wrapping his arms around her waist and bringing her backward against him. His lips were instantly at her exposed neck, nipping and kissing.

"Ah. Edward."

He grunted but otherwise didn't answer or lift his head from his task. His fingers drew lines around her belly, circling lower.

"Edward."

He tugged on her towel, and it puddled on the floor at her feet. He pressed his pajama clad body against her wet, naked one, pinning her up against the counter.

"Edward!"

Again, he only grunted. With a laugh, she tried to turn in his arms. Rather than let her, he put a hand to her upper back, bending her over at the same time as he used his feet to spread her legs apart. Bella groaned.

"Dammit, Edward. I just took a shower." She reached back, threading her fingers through his hair and giving him a little, not-very-aggressive yank. "You know I have somewhere to be."

"Yes, and I'm marking my territory. Stand still. This will only take a minute."

Bella reached back again, this time peppering smacks to his ass. "Down boy. Settle."

"Why are you so violent?" Edward grabbed her hand. This time, he let her turn around in his embrace. She looped her free arm around his waist, and when she tilted her chin up, he kissed her sweetly.

The sweetness of his kiss lasted only five second before he pressed her against the counter, hitching one leg up around his waist, rubbing his center against her. Bella broke their kiss and pointed a finger in his face. "I'm leaving in ten minutes."

"But...you're so naked."

"And whose fault is that? You know better than to unwrap things you can't have." Bella brushed by him, going into their closet.

As she dressed, she listened to the sounds of him moving around the room—the long sigh, and the squeak of the bed. She smiled to herself, filled with warmth and adoration.

He was the first and only man she'd cohabitated with. When it was new, she'd been surprised at how well they fit into each other's lives. Now, the sounds of him gave her a bone-deep sense of home and comfort.

Dressed, she went back out into the bedroom. Edward was on top of the bed, stretched out on his side, one arm draped over his eyes. She sat on the edge of the bed and pressed his shoulder. Knowing what she wanted without her having to say it, Edward lifted his body enough that she could slide, cross-legged, underneath him, and he rested his head on her lap. She scratched her fingertips just behind his ear, smiling down at him as he smiled serenely up at her.

"You really are okay with this, right?" she asked.

"I already said I was."

Bella took his face between her hands, bending over so her hair fell on his face and they were almost nose to nose. "Because you want to be or because you really are."

He laughed and reached up, running his fingers through her hair. "We got this communication thing down, babe. I couldn't be more secure in our relationship." He pressed his lips together a moment, eyes glinting. "I'm not saying I wouldn't prefer to mark my territory, but you already vetoed that."

His look softened. "But male-instinct aside, there's nothing for me to worry about, and I know that. We have a good thing going on here. We're good partners. We have a good and happy life. And obviously, I'm much more attractive than anyone else you're going to run into today."

Bella rolled her eyes but patted his cheek. "And so modest too."

"I'm good at a lot of things," Edward said solemnly. "Now, get going. We're closing a huge chapter of your life tonight. The rest of the book belongs to you and me, babe."

 _ **~0~**_

Bella paused outside the hole-in-the-wall pizzeria in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter. She had to smile. She hadn't been here in over three years. It was one of those things that had fallen victim to the destruction of her old life.

Going inside, Bella looked around and spotted him right where she figured he'd be: in a cozy booth in the back that had been their favorite once upon a time. She shouldered past the the people waiting to be seated.

When he saw her coming, he stood with a small, wistful smile on his face. His eyes swept over her, up and down quickly, and he offered his hand. She took it, but she pulled him into a quick but tight hug. "Jasper," she said.

"Hey, Bella." He squeezed her once and stepped back, letting her go. "You look good."

"You too," she said sincerely. His hair was a little more shaggy than it had been the last time she'd set eyes on him, but it was still too damn short for her liking. She supposed she'd always carry a soft-spot for her bohemian Jasper. After all, he'd been the man she'd fallen in love with.

"I was sorry to hear about your mother passing," Bella said, sliding into the booth across from him.

"The basket you sent was really nice." He took a deep breath, looking at her with an expression she didn't know how to read on his face. "So. Dr. Swan."

Her lips twitched. "How about that?"

"It's fantastic." He put his hands on the table, leaning forward slightly. "Can I say I'm proud of you?"

She pressed her lips together, knowing what was about to happen. This was it. This was what she was really here for. Closure. Finality.

And forgiveness.

Bella smiled. "A part of this is your win too. This is what we both wanted for me. What we both planned."

His eyes were on her, but he didn't speak.

Bella took a deep breath. "Jasper, we had one really, incredibly crap-tastic day, and nine years of mostly happiness." She rolled her shoulders, swallowing hard. "I'm not going to say that one day wasn't devastating, but I'm also not going to pretend that you're not part of the reason I am who I am today, that I have what I have." She reached across the table, covering his hands with hers. "I don't regret you."

If she wasn't mistaken, his eyes shone. She couldn't quite tell before he ducked his head, looking off to the side for a moment. When he looked back to her, there was something like determination in his eyes. "You don't know how often I think about that day, about what I could have said or done to make it easier."

"So have I." Bella shook her head. "I think I understand, now."

He met her eyes. "Can I say it anyway?"

She nodded, giving his hands another brief pat. She wanted peace for him too.

The waiter came over then, and they ordered. It must have given Jasper the time he needed to put his thoughts together, because as soon as the waiter went away, he locked eyes with Bella again.

"You know, my mom taught me a lot of things, not the least of which was don't waste a woman's time. When you know it's not going to work out, you get out. Get the heartbreak over as quickly as possible so she can move on." Jasper shook his head, his expression rueful. "She neglected to inform me that sometimes you reach that conclusion while you're still head-over-heels, madly in love."

Bella held her breath a beat and let it out slowly.

"I know it must have felt like I was making decisions for you, taking away your choice," Jasper said. "But that wasn't what I was doing. "

He tapped his fingertips on the table in a rapid, nervous gesture. "The thing was, I had a realization practically overnight about the things I wanted in my life. When I was a young kid, when I met you, I wanted to be everything my parents weren't. But what I came to realize was that the things my parents always wanted for me...I wanted those things too. I wanted that life. I wanted to be that person they always saw in me. Not because it was what my dying mother wanted—although, I can't say that didn't occur to me—but because it was an attractive and fulfilling life. Like I had figured out all of a sudden that the rebelliousness in me had settled down, and I wanted the 9-5. The steadiness. The prestige."

"The money?" Bella suggested, but she was smiling.

Jasper chuckled. "It's nice to be comfortable. Being a starving artist...that's a beautiful thing. But turned out my parents were right. I like it as a hobby, not a life." This time, he reached out to her, tapping the tops of her knuckles. "But that was the thing, Bella. When I realized what I wanted had changed—everything except you—I was the one who had a choice to make. To stay or to go. I could have chosen to reevaluate what I wanted out of life in a way that kept me here, but I didn't. I didn't choose you." He flexed his hands into fists on the tabletop. "I went over and over it in my head, but every time, I reached the same conclusion: I couldn't choose you. It was the wrong place and the wrong time for us.

"So, of course I couldn't ask you to choose me. I was the one changing everything, going in a direction I know you didn't want for me or for yourself. It would have been the epitome of disrespectful to ask you to choose me when I didn't choose you. It would have been the shittiest thing ever to put the responsibility of ending our relationship on you." He sighed, and looked at her with wide, honest eyes. "I never wanted to hurt you."

"But break-ups hurt," she said, her throat tight. "They're rarely mutual." She nodded slowly. "I get that now, and that's half the point, right? You break up not because you reached the natural end of your relationship, but because one person ends up on a different page than the other." Again, she nodded. She took a steadying breath, pushing back the well of emotion. "In case you need to hear it, I do forgive you, Jasper. You hurt the both of us that day, and it couldn't have been an easy thing to do."

He laughed without humor. "No. It was the worst day of my life, actually." He closed his eyes. "My mother was sick, and I knew what experimental treatment meant. I knew she was going to lose that fight." He opened his eyes, rolling them toward the ceiling. "And I was letting go of the best thing that ever happened to me."

Bella screwed up her nose. "Life sucks sometimes."

He huffed, but he smiled when he looked back at her. "Yeah. It really does. And the best decisions are sometimes the hardest."

Their pizzas came, and Jasper straightened up, holding her gaze as the they were put down between them. "But look at us now," Jasper said.

"Yeah. Look at you. The things you've done with the family business are incredible, Jazz. It's something to be proud of."

He nodded, looking genuinely pleased. "I am proud." He paused a beat. "And now we're expanding. Opening up shop in California." Hence his visit.

Bella heard the things he didn't say. When he'd broken her heart, he'd said part of the reason he'd done what he'd done was because if they were going to have any chance at a future together, she couldn't hate him. She could see the story as it might have played out. Him returning to California after all these years away, after her anger had cooled, and she'd accomplished all the things they dreamed of together. They might have had a chance then.

In a different life.

"You're Dr. Swan, Marine biologist extraordinaire." Jasper gave her a soft smile. "Lucky in love too."

"He's good to me." It was the understatement of the century, but it was the only thing Jasper needed to know.

"He's—" Jasper's eyes darted to something over her shoulder and went wide. "Uh. Here."

Bella furrowed her brow in confusion, but before she could glance over her shoulder, someone plopped down right beside her in the booth. She scooted over in surprise, blinking. "Edward?"

"Hello, sweetheart." Edward kissed her. Hard.

Marking his territory. The ass.

"Sorry to crash your lunch," he said, his face a picture of innocence as though he hadn't just had his tongue in her mouth. "We just happened to be in the neighborhood and I'm so hungry, I thought I'd steal a bite of your pizza while we wait to order."

Bella glanced across the booth. Sure enough, the other part of his 'we' was Alice. She was sitting next to a bewildered looking Jasper, flashing a disarming grin.

"Hi. I'm Alice, and oooh. This is my favorite kind of pizza. Mind if I have a bite?" Alice didn't wait for Jasper's response but stole a slice of his pizza and took a dainty bite.

"Uh. Yes?" Jasper said.

Bella covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile. Alice and Edward could be gigantic brats, especially when they teamed up. When they heard Jasper had asked to have lunch with Bella, Alice had suggested they let her go instead. Apparently, she'd convinced Edward that they should do their best to unsettle Jasper—just for funsies, Bella was sure.

Edward extended a hand. "Hello. I'm Edward."

Jasper glanced at his hand, his expression wary. He took it gingerly and shook. "Jasper."

"So." Alice clapped her hands together loud enough that Jasper jumped. "What were we talking about?"

"Christ." Bella chortled behind her hand. If she didn't know any better, she'd have thought Alice and Edward had been listening in, choosing to interrupt just as they got to the topic of her new life with Edward.

But, hell, it was fun watching Jasper turn bright red and squirm in his seat. He was a big boy, and Bella didn't feel like rescuing him yet.

"Um. Er. Well." Jasper huffed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "We were just, uh, catching up. Talking about, uh, Bella getting her doctorate."

 _Liar, liar pants on fire._

"Bella's incredible," Edward said, taking her hand and raising it to his lips.

She gave him a cool but soft smile.

"Edward's throwing Bella a fancy dinner party tonight," Alice said. She patted Jasper's shoulder in a consoling way. "We'd invite you, but it's an RSVP kind of thing. We have a lot of family coming in. My mom and dad are so proud, you'd have thought Bella was their own kid."

The message there was clear. Jasper and Bella had been an island of their own, estranged even when his family tried to get closer to him. They hadn't ever taken to Bella. The Cullens, on the other hand, adored her.

Jasper ducked his head and nodded. "It's nice of you to think of me anyway."

The lunch wasn't as awkward as it could have been. Jasper was nothing if not a good sport, and once he got over his initial shock, he rolled with Alice and Edward's good-natured teasing pretty well. Bella knew Edward felt better seeing for himself that her ex wasn't an asshole. And Alice. Well. Besides being fiercely loyal, Alice loved giving people a hard time when she had permission.

At the end of the day, it seemed to Bella that Jasper found Alice more amusing than anything. There was no love lost between him and Edward, but neither man seemed to dislike the other.

It was peace. Bella liked the idea of peace. She didn't like hanging onto anger—especially not when her life was so sweet.

"I'll see you at home," Edward said, stooping to give her one more kiss when the four of them made it outside. He shook Jasper's hand again, probably giving him the hand-squeeze of death. "Nice to put a face to the name."

"Same," Jasper said.

Bella struggled not to roll her eyes. She knew damn well they'd both stalked each other on Facebook more than once. How else would Jasper have recognized him?

Alice kissed her cheek. "I'll see you tonight. Wear the dress we bought the other day, okay?"

"Yes, dear." Bella reached out and mussed her hair, making her squeak.

"So, she's a character," Jasper said when the siblings were out of earshot.

Bella snorted. "You're lucky you didn't get the older brother.

Jasper shuddered. "The one that looks like he might have been able to look Andre the Giant in the eye?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Bella laughed. "Emmett is hilarious, though."

Jasper hummed. "You fell in with some good people, Bells."

"Some of the best."

"I'm glad," Jasper said with nothing but sincerity.

Bella hesitated a beat. "What about you? Seeing anyone?"

He laughed, and shook his head. "I've got a lot of great things going for me, but romantically speaking?" He smiled at her. "I'm having a hell of a time getting over you."

Her heart gave a soft pang, but he shook his head again before she could say anything. He reached over and took her hand, twining their fingers together this time. "I never stopped loving you, and part of that means I never stopped wanting you to have it all. I saw the way that guy looks at you." He nodded as though to himself. "I'm glad he crashed our lunch. You looked happy, you know. In pictures, but a part of me always wondered. Whatever happened between you guys looked so weird from where I was."

Bella scoffed. "Yeah, living it was a little confusing. Trust."

"But you got something true and special. I can see that. And that does a world of good for me to see." He squeezed her hand once more before letting go. "You're always going to be the one who got away, Bella, but I'll still consider myself one of the luckiest people on the planet if you say we can be friendly."

Bella smiled. "I'd like that."

They hugged, and Bella walked away, chapter closed.

* * *

 **A/N: I know some of us like ex's to crash and burn, but I'm not one of those people. Sorry! But on to E/B only shenanigans next time.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hello, my lovelies. Let's see how our good people are doing.**

* * *

Edward had reached a level of satisfaction and peace he'd had no idea existed. It was early morning. He was really only half awake, resting with his head on Bella's shoulders. He was studying her nipples intently, passing a slow fingertip around the ridges of her areola.

Bella was awake too. She scratched her fingers through his hair, rubbing him right behind his ear like he was a cat. She yawned and sighed. "Edward. Come on. Make a choice. Which shirts?"

"Hmm." Edward let his fingers find the curve of her breast. "How about no shirts? I'm a big fan of no shirts."

She snorted. "You're a big fan of me getting arrested?"

"Oh. That might be a problem."

"Come on." She tugged on the hair at his nape gently. "Make a choice."

Edward's heartbeat doubled for a few beats before it calmed down again. He let his hand splay over her torso. "How about a classic?" he said, pleased when his voice came out steady. "Leia and Han?"

These days, Edward and Bella had a wide and varied variety of matching shirts they wore almost every time they went to Disneyland. His Beauty, Her Beast. His Minnie, Her Mickey. On and on and on.

Rarely, very rarely, they wore the I Love You, I Know shirts they'd been wearing when they met. The shirts came with history, both of them bought with other partners.

Still—the shirts were the reason they were together.

Bella chuckled. "Feeling nostalgic today, are you?"

"Something like that." He shifted and straddled her, lowering his head to nip and suck at her neck.

"Edward," she said with a breathy sigh. She cupped her hands at his hips. "We're going to be late."

He snorted and kissed a trail down to her breasts. "Disneyland won't mind if we're not there at gate opening you know." He reached between them, taking his cock in his hand and running it along the length of her slit, teasing. "But if you really want to go…"

She groaned, arching her hips up off the bed, trying to coax him in. "You are not a nice person."

"Uh huh." He kissed her, hard, swallowing each of her breathless gasps. "You want me."

"Do not." In spite of her words, she wiggled beneath him, her body moving against his.

"Liar, liar pants on fire."

"I'm not wearing pants." She locked her legs around him, pulling his lower body hard against hers. "And you jumped me."

"Mmhmm." He thrust, his cock still slip-sliding against her without penetration.

"That's it." She bucked, putting enough space between them that she had room to maneuver. "Now you're going to have to do some work. I know how lazy you are at dark o'clock, but just remember...you brought this on yourself."

"What are you—" But Edward's question cut off in a moan. Bella had flipped over onto her hands and knees, her pert ass right in front of him. She gave it a wiggle and looked over her shoulder.

"Hard and deep. You know how to hit the spot. If we're going to be late, you sure as hell better make it worth my while, you damn tease."

He grunted as he straightened up, getting into position on his knees behind her. "If you insist," he said with a put-upon sigh, and then he slid inside her.

They both whimpered as he began to move. He loved her like this. Loved the shape of her body. He loved the feel of her hips in his hands as she moved with him, loved the way her back arched. He let his hands roam, feeling all her lines, cupping her breasts as they bounced.

He loved the escalation of her moans, from tiny to loud as he found the sweet spot inside her. He loved being enveloped in her, deep and hot.

He fucked into her hard, just the way she liked, though his hands moved on her with tenderness. "I love you," he said on a groan. He grunted, breathless, lost in her. "Christ, I love you so much."

It was big, this love for her. It filled him, and he filled her and she pushed back against him, opening and accepting him. She called his name—a plea and an endearment all at once.

When they were both spent, he collapsed back to the bed, gathering her close against him. He pressed open-mouthed kisses to the moist, salty skin of her shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her waist, buried his nose in her hair and just breathed her in.

It was easy to believe in fate and soulmates when he was with Bella like this, in the small hours of the morning when the world was still relatively quiet. What else could explain how they'd found each other? How they'd both been free, however unwillingly, and marked for each other? He couldn't have picked her for himself. It had to be fate. And he could never quite explain how he belonged to her and she to him. He'd never felt that for another person—part of them, unique yet also part of a greater whole.

Bella yawned, scratching her fingers through his hair. "Just in case you were wondering, I changed my mind."

"About?"

"You're a really nice person. I like you."

He snorted. "I like you too."

She hummed. Her fingers, in his hair, slowed.

Edward's eyes snapped open. He rolled to the side, away from Bella, and put his feet on the floor.

"Where did you go?" Her voice was groggy.

He reached over, hand on her waist, and gave her a little shake. "Get up. We're late for Disneyland."

"Disneyland doesn't love us as much as this bed loves us." She wrapped her fingers around his and tugged. "Come back."

"Nope. This Disney day was your idea. We're the kind of couple who keeps our promises."

Her scowl was meant to be frightening, but he thought it was adorable. "We're about to be the kind of couple who sleeps in different rooms," she threatened.

Edward made his way over to her side of the bed. He leaned down so they were nose to nose. "I'll take my chances."

With that, he lifted his naked princess up into his arms. She squeaked in surprise, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're going to throw out your back, and I'm going to laugh."

"Sure you will." He set her down just outside the shower and reached in to turn it on. "You wasted so much time seducing me, that we're just going to have to shower together."

She reached around and pinched his ass. She stepped into the shower, pulling him in with her. "It's an exercise in futility. You're too filthy to ever get clean."

He put the bar of soap in her hands and then guided them to his chest. "You'll just have to do your best," he said with a wink.

 _ **~0~**_

"We're over an hour late," Bella said as they got out of the car in the Mickey and Friends parking structure.

He shouldered the backpack he'd brought and reached out to take her hand. He pulled her against him, leaning down so smaller ears wouldn't hear. "I didn't hear you complaining when I was giving it to you so good."

She elbowed him in the side playfully and shouldered her own backpack. "I can get it from you anytime I want."

He snorted. "Right, but Disneyland is only here for a limited engagement."

"The line for Space Mountain is off the charts now. That's all I'm saying. We have things to do. Get a move on."

When they got to the entrance plaza, they first rented a locker, stashing Bella's backpack there before heading into the park.

Four years into their relationship, Edward rarely felt the ghosts of girlfriends past when he walked around this place. It belonged just to the two of them. It was different being here with Bella, after all. And wasn't that the strangest thing about having loved and lost? The same things became different because of whom you shared them with.

Everything with Bella was different. Better. Best. He might have found happiness if his life had gone a different way, but not like this.

It was nice, too, because, having found something so special and rare, he held no ill will for the minor heartaches that had brought him to Bella. He could think back on his time with Kate with fondness, remembering the good times and letting go of the bad.

He had no regrets in life, and he had a partner he could share himself with;, past, present, and future.

"Does it bother you that Alice and Jasper are talking more?" Edward asked, his mind on the subject of ex's and bygones.

Bella chuckled, wandering into the Starbucks on Main Street where they usually grabbed a coffee before they got down to the serious business of the day. "It's kind of a relief. I thought I was going to feel bad that he moved back here to a new part of the state where he doesn't have any other friends." She shrugged. "You know how I feel. He's still a good person. I don't feel bad when other people like him."

She tilted her head. "How about you? Are you okay with it?"

Edward snorted. "It's Alice. She's never shied away from giving her friends a hard time if she thinks they deserve it. If he's masochistic enough to put up with her, it's no business of mine."

"Ha. I love your sister." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Almost as much as I love you."

"I'm still first though, right?"

She flashed him a grin but kissed the tip of his nose. "For now."

They drank their coffee and rode a few of the easier to get on rides. Edward had discovered some time ago he liked the sedate Storybook Land Canal—a ride where a boat rode down canals while a cast member pointed out the miniaturized versions of Disney favorites like the park from Peter Pan, and the villages from other movies.

Edward liked to watch Bella. He liked the dreamy look she got on her face and the way she hummed _A Whole New World_ when they drove under the arches of flowers like Aladdin and Jasmin did. He especially liked that she held his hand and rested her head on his shoulder.

Since they were in the area, they took a spin on the teacups and hopped on Alice in Wonderland. When they got off that ride, Bella checked her phone.

"Okay. The Fast Passes are all lined up. Are we ready for this?"

Edward hiked the pack he'd been carrying up on his shoulder, smirking at her. "Born ready, babe."

Their Disney mission—because Annual Passholders often came to Disneyland with a purpose in mind—was to take staged photos on all the rides that snapped pictures during the ride. Hence, they had a backpack full of props. The theme was Game Day.

The first thing was to make sure they got the front seat. Most Cast Members didn't have a problem with that request providing the day wasn't insanely busy. They opted for their biggest prop on Space Mountain—a Monopoly game board on which they'd carefully glued hotels and a stack of money in the middle. They were both laughing their fool heads off, trying to get into position in time in the dark as the roller coaster twisted and turned. But, they managed it. The end result had them posing, Bella shaking a stack of money at him while he smirked at her with the board game between them and the strangers behind them screamed.

"Best," Bella said, still cackling as they made their way back out into the Southern California sunshine.

Splash Mountain was a little trickier because the seats were one in front of the other instead of side by side. For that ride, they'd rigged a house of cards that could be folded down when not in use. Edward, twisted slightly around in his seat, held the cards steady while Bella reached over his seat as though in great concentration, a card in her hand.

In California Adventure, California Screaming offered a different challenge because of the harness. They couldn't twist as much and so each held up five playing cards as though playing poker.

Finally, they only had Guardians of the Galaxy left. That one was a drop ride where the picture was taken just before the drop from the tallest part of the tower. They had a glued together Jenga tower—a few pieces sticking out at random—that Bella held while Edward mimed going for a piece right at the bottom. That one turned out great because the kid in the seat next to them had seen what they were doing and his face was caught between screaming his face off and a classic what-the-fuck expression.

"Gold," Edward said, scrolling through the pictures on his phone as they made their way back to the lockers.

They exchanged one backpack for the other, and disappeared into separate bathrooms to get changed. Edward shook his head at his reflection. If someone had told him he'd be dressed up like a Dapper Dan—a member of the barbershop quartet that performed on Main Street in Disneyland—willingly, he'd have laughed. But, he had to admit he looked snazzy. He smirked at himself, adjusted his boater, and headed outside.

Only a few minutes later, his lady fair emerged. He whistled, charmed at the sight of her and the dress that matched his outfit—frills and bright stripes. He took her by the hand and spun her in circle so her dress twirled around her shapely legs. Her smile was soft, and she kissed his sweetly. "You rock that bowtie."

He offered his arm and started whistling as they strolled back to Disneyland's entrance. "Daisy, Daisy give me your answer, do," he crooned, singing a song popular with barbershop quartets.

Bella raised an eyebrow. "Proposing, Edward."

 _Shit. Abort. Abort._

He drew her arm across him, wrapping his other hand around her waist. "Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime girl," he sang instead.

"Michigan J. Frog belongs to the Warner Bros. Thou shalt not profane Disneyland with that."

He thought a moment as they scanned their passes to be let into the park. As soon as they were through, he leaned in close. "Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry. When I take you out in the surrey. When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top."

He bowed his knees, bouncing to the tune as they walked. Bella pressed her lips together, trying not to smile and failing. She glanced around, her cheeks going pink when she realized there were people staring. So, of course, he upped his performance.

"Watch that fringe and see how it flutters. When I drive them high steppin' strutters. Nosey folks'll peek through their shutters and their eyes will pop!" He was strutting now, pulling her along with him, throwing his free hand out theatrically.

By the time he'd finished his song, there were a number of people following them discreetly. They clapped and whistled. He flashed a grin at Bella who rolled her eyes at him. "You should feed me if you're going to expect me to keep up with you tonight. You're in a mood."

He couldn't control his smile. He was in a mood. "Already three steps ahead of you, sweet cheeks." He pulled her over to the entrance of Adventureland. "As it turns out, we have reservations."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Do we?"

They made their way to New Orleans Square, where Edward had made reservations at the swankiest restaurant in the park, Club 33 aside. The Blue Bayou was located just where the Pirates of the Caribbean ride began. It was made as though the restaurant were on the waterfront. Edward made sure they were sitting at a table where they could watch the Pirate boats sail by, primed for adventure.

After a delicious dinner, they strolled hand in hand to the Royal Swing Big Band Ball.

Over the last few years, Edward and Bella had taken many dance lessons together. It had been one of the first things on their list of conquering couplehood. Bella had thought for a long time that she could never be as good as Edward, but she was also stubborn as hell. She'd worked hard.

Today was their second big outing, showing off their skills in public. It amused Edward to no end that Bella was so eager. He laughed as she dragged him straight out onto the floor in the middle of the song. He only barely had enough time to touch his hand to his pocket, making sure the item he needed was still there.

They danced. One song. Two. Three.

On the fourth song, one Edward knew intimately, his heart started to speed. He danced smoothly as ever with Bella until the very end of the song. He spun Bella away from him and then, in the only move he'd practiced repeatedly without her, he got to the item in his pocket with his free hand, and slid down on one knee as he swung her back to him.

Bella skittered to a halt, giving a startled yelp to find him not where she expected. It was lucky she'd learned to let her body follow his silent commands, as all good dance partners did. Otherwise, she would have ended up falling over him as she'd likely expected to end up in his arms.

A collective gasp went through Bella and the dancers nearby as they registered what Edward held in his hand. A ring box. Bella's free hand shot to her mouth. An excited murmur went through the crowd and Edward and Bella found themselves at the center of a ring of people. The band stopped playing.

Edward smiled. Surprisingly, he wasn't nervous. He'd never been more sure of anything in his life.

He wasn't even that surprised when Bella burst out laughing before he could get a single word out. She leaned down, shaking her head at him. "What, are you trying to go viral this time?" she said, soft enough that not many people could have heard.

His grin only widened. "Hush. Let me do this." He cleared his throat and put on a serious face. "Bella Swan. I love you more than any other Disney Prince has ever loved his princess." He winked. "Though I do have the advantage of having known you for more than an average of three days."

She laughed, her smile tender.

"This is it. The part where we ride off to our castle in the clouds. Dance at the big ball. Take our place as the king and queen of pride rock." He popped open the ring box with his thumb. The band of the ring there ended in a mermaid's tail set on either side with diamonds. "So, will you give me my happily ever after, Bella? Will you marry me?"

Her grin was as wide as his, her eyes shining with tears. She nodded. "Yeah. Yes."

A roar of cheers and whistles went up as he got to his feet and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her, wild and joyous. She giggled in his ear, holding him tight. "I do have one condition though," she said only for him to hear.

"What's that?"

"Promise me our sequels will be better than Disney gets."

Now he was the one to laugh. He pulled back, taking her face in his hands and kissing her again. "Pixar quality sequels for us," he promised, and then, he kissed her again.

 _ **~The End~**_

 **A/N: This fic was written for Ausha—the main reason I end up in Disneyland these days. I hope you enjoyed it, lovely.**

 **Many thanks to my team, Packy, MoH, Mina, Eleanor, and the incredible Songster, who beta'ed this on her birthday! Additional thanks to Athena, another of the Disney Squad, for all her help and ideas.**

 **I had fun with this one. I hope you did too.**

 **Yes, there's a strong possibility of an outtake with some schmoop. Thank you so much for your support. I hope you know how much your words mean to me.**


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